Original Article

Workforce and Employment Status of Sleep Medicine Graduates in Iran

Abstract

Background and Objective: Sleep medicine is a multidisciplinary specialty that focuses on diagnosing and treating sleep disorders. Sleep medicine fellowship programs in Iran commenced in 2012 at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. This study aimed to investigate the human resources and employment status of sleep medicine fellowship graduates in Iran.
Materials and Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in Iran in 2022 using conven-ience sampling and included 41 sleep medicine fellows in Iran. Data collection tools included a demographic question-naire and a researcher-made survey. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software.
Results: Out of 57 sleep medicine fellows, 41 individuals with an average age of 44.95 ± 7.57 years participated in the study. Only 12% of the fellows were satisfied with their income, and all participants expressed dissatisfaction with their insurance coverage. 92% considered the existence of a national guideline for sleep medicine to be crucial, while 66.7% felt the curriculum of medical sleep medicine had some deficiencies.
Conclusion: Lack of a suitable national guideline for treating and preventing sleep disorders, lack of insurance coverage for tests and respiratory assist devices, and high costs of establishing and equipping specialized sleep clinics are major challenges recognized by sleep medicine fellows. Additionally, due to the low priority given to these diseases by authorities and the inappropriate distribution of sleep medicine specialists in the country, access to appropriate treatment for sleep disorders is only feasible in giant cities.

1. Latreille V, St Louis EK, Pavlova M. Co-morbid sleep disorders and epilepsy: A narrative review and case examples. Epilepsy Res 2018; 145: 185-97.
2. Kohlschütter E. Measurements of sleep strength [Messungen der Festigkeit des Schlafes]. Leipzig, Germany: Druck von G. Kreysing; 1862. [In German].
3. Caton R. The Electric Currents of the Brain. BMJ 1875; 2: 278.
4. Berger H. About the human electroencephalogram [Über das Elektrenkephalogramm des Menschen]. Archiv f Psychiatrie 1929; 87: 527-70. [In German].
5. Wu HT, Talmon R, Lo YL. Assess sleep stage by modern signal processing techniques. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2015; 62: 1159-68.
6. Moruzzi G, Magoun HW. Brain stem reticular formation and activation of the EEG. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1949; 1: 455-73.
7. Sateia MJ. International classification of sleep disorders-third edition: highlights and modifications. Chest 2014; 146: 1387-94.
8. Karna B, Sankari A, Tatikonda G. Sleep disorder. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2022.
9. Panaghi L., Kafashi A., Seraji M. epidemiology of sleep disorders in primary school students in Tehran. Iran J Psychiatry Clin Psychol 2004;10:50-8. [In Persian].
10. Papi S, Karimi Z, Ghaed Amini Harooni G, et al. Determining the prevalence of sleep disorder and its predictors among elderly residents of nursing homes of Ahvaz City in 2017. Salmand Iran J Ageing 2019; 13: 576-87. [In Persian].
11. Karimi FZ, Nosrati Hadiabad SF, Abdollahi M, et al. Frequency of sleep disorders and individual related factors in pregnant women referred to Mashhad health centers in 2019. Iran J Obstet Gynecol Infertil 2020; 23: 25-32. [In Persian].
12. Shamsaei F, Cheraghi F. Co morbidity of sleep disorder and general health in the general population of Hamadan. Avicenna J Nurs Midwifery Care 2012; 20: 40-50. [In Persian].
13. Shahsavand E, Mehrdad R, Sadegh NHK. Survey about sleep disorders prevalence among nurses in Emam Khomeini Hospital-Tehran and effective factors on it. Studies in Medical Science 2001; 12: 237-45. [In Persian].
14. Mokarrar MH, Afsharmanesh A, Afshari M, et al. Prevalence of sleep disorder among medical students in an eastern university in Iran. Iran J Health Sci 2017; 5: 49-54. [In Persian].
15. Saeidifard F, Adimi P, Foroughi M, et al. Prevalence of high risk population for obstructive sleep apnea using STOP-BANG questionnaire in a large urban population. Eur Respir J 2014; 44: 2232.
16. Foroughi M, Malekmohammad M, Sharafkhaneh A, et al. Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in a high-risk population using the Stop-Bang Questionnaire in Tehran, Iran. Tanaffos 2017; 16: 217-24.
17. Yazdi Z, Sadeghniiat-Haghighi K, Loukzadeh Z, et al. Prevalence of sleep disorders and their impacts on occupational performance: a comparison between shift workers and nonshift workers. Sleep Disord 2014; 2014: 870320.
18. Schulz H, Salzarulo P. The development of sleep medicine: A historical sketch. J Clin Sleep Med 2016; 12: 1041-52.
19. Avidan AY, Vaughn BV, Silber MH. The current state of sleep medicine education in US neurology residency training programs: Where do we go from here? J Clin Sleep Med 2013; 9: 281-6.
20. Adimi Naghan P, Malek Mohammad M, Jamaati HR, et al. Sleep Medicine in Iran. J Med Counc I.R. Iran 2020; 38: 7-10. [In Persian].
21. Yu PK, Gadkaree SK, Li J, et al. characteristics of the dual board-certified sleep otolaryngology work-force. Laryngoscope 2021; 131: E2712-7.
22. Bahammam AS, Alsaeed M, Alahmari M, et al. Sleep medicine services in Saudi Arabia: The 2013 national survey. Ann Thorac Med 2014; 9: 45-7.
23. Watson NF, Rosen IM, Chervin RD. The past is prologue: The future of sleep medicine. J Clin Sleep Med 2017; 13: 127-35.
24. Kezirian EJ, Maselli J, Vittinghoff E, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea surgery practice patterns in the United States: 2000 to 2006. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2010; 143: 441-7.
25. Parthasarathy S, Haynes PL, Budhiraja R, et al. A national survey of the effect of sleep medicine specialists and American Academy of Sleep Medicine Accreditation on management of obstructive sleep apnea. J Clin Sleep Med 2006; 2: 133-42.
26. Bahammam AS, Al-Jahdali HH, Alenazi MH, et al. Curriculum development for the Saudi sleep medicine fellowship program. J Taibah Univ Med Sci 2022; 17: 782-93.
27. Wickwire EM. Value-based sleep and breathing: health economic aspects of obstructive sleep apnea. Fac Rev 2021; 10: 40.
28. Huyett P, Bhattacharyya N. Incremental health care utilization and expenditures for sleep disorders in the United States. J Clin Sleep Med 2021; 17: 1981-6.
29. Maleki MR, Ibrahimipour H, Karimi I, et al. Sustainable universal health insurance coverage barriers in Iran: 2007. Payesh Health Monit 2010; 9: 173-87.
[In Persian].
30. Ferdosi M, Mohammadizadeh M. The investigation of the patients' satisfaction from social care insurance and complementary insurance in medical centers in Tehran. Health Inf Manage 2005; 2: 46-53. [In Persian].
31. Jaafaripooyan E, Pourreza A, Kheirollahi F. Communication challenges between insurance companies and hospitals: An exploratory study in Tehran. J Sch Public Health Inst Public Health Res 2017; 15: 225-38. [In Persian].
32. Stamm D, Taylor S, Nguyen U, et al. Survey evaluating sleep education catalyzed change in residency training. Int J Clin Med 2015; 6: 444-50.
Files
IssueVol 7 No 3-4 (2022): Summer-Autumn QRcode
SectionOriginal Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/jss.v7i(3-4).15245
Keywords
Sleep; Medicine; Fellowships; Sleep disorders
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Samadi S, Sadeghniiat Haghighi K, Najafi A, Rahimi-Golkhandan A, Amirifard H, Moradian F, Nikeghbalian Z. Workforce and Employment Status of Sleep Medicine Graduates in Iran. J Sleep Sci. 2024;7(3-4):53-61.