Clinical significance and management of insomnia

Abstract

Several epidemiological studies have shown that more than 20% of the general adult population has symptoms of insomnia, but only about 5% of them are receiving treatment for the symptoms. Most general physicians and patients seem to be unaware of both the potential morbidity associated with insomnia and the importance of sleep health. In addition, most people having sleep problems do not tell their primary physicians about the problems, while about 70% of physicians do not ask their patients about the existence of sleep problems. Sleep disorders have been reported to underlie the development and deterioration of several comorbid diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and depression. Thus, we performed a systematic review of the relationship between insomnia and comorbid disorders to provide recent knowledge on this and to facilitate insomnia treatment to prevent the development of these comorbid disorders. In addition, we briefly introduce the Japanese consensus report on the management of insomnia in general practice that was established in 2010. We expect that this review paper will contribute to the advancement of the management of insomnia in general practice. © 2011 The Authors. Sleep and Biological Rhythms © 2011 Japanese Society of Sleep Research.