The epidemiologic study of insomnia, that is, examination of the patterns by which
insomnia occurs in human populations and the time, place, and individual factors that
influence those patterns [
[1]
] remains an underdeveloped area of sleep research [
2
,
3
]. From the earliest studies [
National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference Statement on Manifestations and Management of Chronic Insomnia in Adults. NIH Consens Sci Statements 2005;22(2):1–30. Available at: http://consensus.nih.gov/2005/2005InsomniaSOS026PDF.pdf. Accessed April 27, 2006.
4
,
5
,
6
] to the more recent [
7
,
8
,
9
,
10
], a general consensus has developed that approximately 30% of the adult population
across a number of countries report one or more current symptoms of insomnia: difficulty
initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS), waking up too early (EMA),
and in some cases nonrestorative or poor-quality sleep (NRS) [
11
,
12
,
13
]. With the addition to the case definition of perceived daytime impairment of function
caused by the insomnia symptoms, approximately 10% of adults seem to be currently
affected [
11
,
12
,
13
]. The application of more formal diagnostic criteria such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), which make the additional requirements that the symptoms
of insomnia persist for at least 1 month and do not occur exclusively in the presence
of another sleep disorder or mental disorder or as the direct physiologic effects
of a substance use or medical condition, yield current prevalence estimates of approximately
6% [
7
,
8
,
14
,
15
,
16
].To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Footnotes
This work was supported by research grant MH61358 from the National Institutes of Health.
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© 2006 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
