Abstract
Insomnia is a prevalent complaint and often encountered by health care practitioners. It is costly and can cause significant morbidity if not addressed appropriately. Women and the elderly tend to suffer from insomnia more than other groups of the population. Other risk factors include psychosocial stressors, psychiatric and medical problems, low income, unemployment, excessive environmental noise, not having a life partner, and job-related stressors among others.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mahowald MW, Kader G, Schenck CH (1997) Clinical categories of sleep disorders I. Continuum 3(4):35–65
Young TB (2005) Natural history of chronic insomnia. NIH insomnia abstract. J Clin Sleep Med 1(Suppl):e466–e467
Association of Sleep Disorders Center (1979) Diagnostic classification of sleep and arousal disorders. Sleep 2:5–122
American Psychiatric Association (2000) Sleep disorders. In: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: diagnostic criteria for primary insomnia, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, pp 597–661
American Academy of Sleep Medicine (1997) The international classification of sleep disorders, revised. American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Westchester, Ill
World Health Organization (1992) The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioral disorders. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Mellinger GD, Balter MB, Uhlenhuth EH (1985) Insomnia and its treatment. Prevalence and correlates. Arch Gen Psychiatry 42(3):225–232
Ohayon M (1996) Epidemiological study on insomnia in the general population. Sleep 19(3 Suppl):S7–S15
Leger D et al (2000) Prevalence of insomnia in a survey of 12,778 adults in France. J Sleep Res 9(1):35–42
Sutton DA, Moldofsky H, Badley EM (2001) Insomnia and health problems in Canadians. Sleep 24(6):665–670
Simen S et al (1995) Chronification of sleep disorders. Results of a representative survey in West Germany. Nervenarzt 66(9):686–695
Ishigooka J et al (1999) Epidemiological study on sleep habits and insomnia of new outpatients visiting general hospitals in Japan. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 53(4):515–522
Kim K et al (2000) An epidemiological study of insomnia among the Japanese general population. Sleep 23(1):41–47
Pallesen S et al (2001) Prevalence of insomnia in the adult Norwegian population. Sleep 24(7):771–779
Husby R, Lingjaerde O (1990) Prevalence of reported sleeplessness in northern Norway in relation to sex, age and season. Acta Psychiatr Scand 81(6):542–547
Zeitlhofer J et al (1994) Epidemiology of sleep disorders in Austria. Wien Klin Wochenschr 106(3):86–88
Ohayon MM, Hong SC (2002) Prevalence of insomnia and associated factors in South Korea. J Psychosom Res 53(1):593–600
Lopez AT, Sanchez EG, Torres FG et al (1995) Habitos y trastornos del dormir en residentes del area metropolitana de Monterrey. Salud Mental 18:14–22
Yeo BK et al (1996) Insomnia in the community. Singapore Med J 37(3):282–284
Hyyppa M, Kronholm E (1987) How does Finland sleep? Sleeping habits of the Finnish adult population and the rehabilitation of sleep disturbances. Publ Soc Ins Inst ML(68):1–110
Dixon KN, Monroe LJ, Jakim S (1981) Insomniac children. Sleep 4(3):313–318
Archbold KH et al (2002) Symptoms of sleep disturbances among children at two general pediatric clinics. J Pediatr 140(1):97–102
Neveus T et al (2001) Sleep habits and sleep problems among a community sample of schoolchildren. Acta Paediatr 90(12):1450–1455
Liu X et al (2000) Prevalence and correlates of self-reported sleep problems among Chinese adolescents. Sleep 23(1):27–34
Ohayon MM et al (2000) Prevalence and patterns of problematic sleep among older adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39(12):1549–1556
Saarenpaa-Heikkila OA et al (1995) Sleep habits and disorders in Finnish schoolchildren. J Sleep Res 4(3):173–182
Tynjala J, Kannas L, Valimaa R (1993) How young Europeans sleep. Health Educ Res 8(1):69–80
Levy D et al (1986) Sleep patterns and problems in adolescents. J Adolesc Health Care 7(6):386–389
Price VA et al (1978) Prevalence and correlates of poor sleep among adolescents. Am J Dis Child 132(6):583–586
Kirmil-Gray K, Eagleston J, Gibson E (1984) Sleep disturbance in adolescents: sleep quality, sleep habits, beliefs about sleep, and daytime functioning. J Youth Adolesc 13:375–384
Rimpela A, Ahlstrom S (1983) Health habits among Finnish youth. National Board of Health, p 71–83
Ohayon MM (2002) Epidemiology of Insomnia: what we know and what we still need to learn. Sleep Med Rev 6(2):97–111
Klink ME et al (1992) Risk factors associated with complaints of insomnia in a general adult population. Influence of previous complaints of insomnia. Arch Intern Med 152(8):1634–1637
Mitchell ES, Woods NF (1996) Symptom experiences of midlife women: observations from the Seattle Midlife Women’s Health Study. Maturitas 25(1):1–10
Owens JF, Matthews KA (1998) Sleep disturbance in healthy middle-aged women. Maturitas 30(1):41–50
Camhi SL et al (2000) Factors affecting sleep disturbances in children and adolescents. Sleep Med 1(2):117–123
Chiu HF et al (1999) Sleep problems in Chinese elderly in Hong Kong. Sleep 22(6):717–726
Li RH et al (2002) Gender differences in insomnia – a study in the Hong Kong Chinese population. J Psychosom Res 53(1):601–609
Hajak G (2001) Epidemiology of severe insomnia and its consequences in Germany. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 251(2):49–56
Foley DJ et al (1999) Incidence and remission of insomnia among elderly adults in a biracial cohort. Sleep 22(Suppl 2):S373–S378
McGhie A, Russell S (1962) The subjective assessment of normal sleep patterns. J Ment Sci 108:642–654
Chevalier H et al (1999) Evaluation of severe insomnia in the general population: results of a European multinational survey. J Psychopharmacol 13(4 Suppl 1):S21–S24
Janson C et al (2001) Insomnia in men-a 10-year prospective population based study. Sleep 24(4):425–430
Morgan K, Clarke D (1997) Risk factors for late-life insomnia in a representative general practice sample. Br J Gen Pract 47(416):166–169
Foley DJ et al (1999) Incidence and remission of insomnia among elderly adults: an epidemiologic study of 6,800 persons over three years. Sleep 22(Suppl 2):S366–S372
Ohayon MM et al (2001) How age and daytime activities are related to insomnia in the general population: consequences for older people. J Am Geriatr Soc 49(4):360–366
Blazer DG, Hays JC, Foley DJ (1995) Sleep complaints in older adults: a racial comparison. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 50(5):M280–M284
Jean-Louis G et al (2001) Ethnic differences in self-reported sleep problems in older adults. Sleep 24(8):926–933
Ohayon MM et al (2002) Prevalence and consequences of sleep disorders in a shift worker population. J Psychosom Res 53(1):577–583
Harma M et al (1998) Combined effects of shift work and life-style on the prevalence of insomnia, sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness. Scand J Work Environ Health 24(4):300–307
Dumont M, Montplaisir J, Infante-Rivard C (1997) Sleep quality of former night-shift workers. Int J Occup Environ Health 3(Suppl 2):S10–S14
Doi Y et al (2000) Prevalence of sleep disturbance and hypnotic medication use in relation to sociodemographic factors in the general Japanese adult population. J Epidemiol 10(2):79–86
Kageyama T et al (1997) A population study on risk factors for insomnia among adult Japanese women: a possible effect of road traffic volume. Sleep 20(11):963–971
Weissman MM et al (1997) The morbidity of insomnia uncomplicated by psychiatric disorders. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 19(4):245–250
Costa e Silva JA et al (1996) Special report from a symposium held by the World Health Organization and the World Federation of Sleep Research Societies: an overview of insomnias and related disorders – recognition, epidemiology, and rational management. Sleep 19(5):412–416
Dodge R, Cline MG, Quan SF (1995) The natural history of insomnia and its elationship to respiratory symptoms. Arch Intern Med 155(16):1797–1800
Katz DA, McHorney CA (1998) Clinical correlates of insomnia in patients with chronic illness. Arch Intern Med 158(10):1099–1107
Ford DE, Kamerow DB (1989) Epidemiologic study of sleep disturbances and psychiatric disorders. An opportunity for prevention? JAMA 262(11):1479–1484
Chang PP et al (1997) Insomnia in young men and subsequent depression. The Johns Hopkins Precursors Study. Am J Epidemiol 146(2):105–114
Mallon L, Broman JE, Hetta J (2000) Relationship between insomnia, depression, and mortality: a 12-year follow-up of older adults in the community. Int Psychogeriatr 12(3):295–306
Leger D et al (2001) SF-36: evaluation of quality of life in severe and mild insomniacs compared with good sleepers. Psychosom Med 63(1):49–55
Hatoum HT et al (1998) Insomnia, health-related quality of life and healthcare resource consumption. A study of managed-care organization enrollees. Pharmacoeconomics 14(6):629–637
Zammit GK et al (1999) Quality of life in people with insomnia. Sleep 22(Suppl 2):S379–S385
Hauri PJ (1997) Cognitive deficits in insomnia patients. Acta Neurol Belg 97(2):113–117
Espie CA et al (2000) Insomniacs’ attributions: psychometric properties of the dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep scale and the sleep disturbance questionnaire. J Psychosom Res 48(2):141–148
Kripke DF et al (2002) Mortality associated with sleep duration and insomnia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 59(2):131–136
Rumble R, Morgan K (1992) Hypnotics, sleep, and mortality in elderly people. J Am Geriatr Soc 40:787–791
Mallon L, Broman JE, Hetta J (2002) Sleep complaints predict coronary artery disease mortality in males: a 12-year follow-up study of a middle-aged Swedish population. J Intern Med 251(3):207–216
Quera-Salva MA et al (1991) Insomnia and use of hypnotics: study of a French population. Sleep 14(5):386–391
Asplund R (2000) Sleep and hypnotic use in relation to perceived somatic and mental health among the elderly. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 31(3):199–205
Partinen M, Eskelinen L, Tuomi K (1984) Complaints of insomnia in different occupations. Scand J Work Environ Health 10(6 Spec No):467–469
Johnson EO et al (1998) Epidemiology of alcohol and medication as aids to sleep in early adulthood. Sleep 21(2):178–186
Walsh JK, Schweitzer PK (1999) Ten-year trends in the pharmacological treatment of insomnia. Sleep 22(3):371
Walsh JK, Roehrs T, Roth T (2005) Pharmacologic treatment of primary insomnia. In: Kryger M, Roth T, Dement W (eds) Principles and practice of sleep medicine. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 749–760
Stoller MK (1994) Economic effects of insomnia. Clin Ther 16(5):873–897; discussion 854
Leger D, Guilleminault C, Bader G et al (2002) Medical and socioprofessional impact of insomnia. Sleep 25:625–629
Walsh JK, Engelhardt CL (1999) The direct economic costs of insomnia in the United States for 1995. Sleep 22(Suppl 2):S386–S393
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Grewal, R., Doghramji, K. (2010). Epidemiology of Insomnia. In: Attarian, H., Schuman, C. (eds) Clinical Handbook of Insomnia. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-042-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-042-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-033-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-042-7
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)