Specific Quality of Life Measures for Sleep Disorders

Abstract

Sleep is one of the most important needs for a healthy life. It is therefore considered to be an important aspect of health, affecting well-being and quality of life (Karadag & Ursavas, 2007; Leger & Bayon, 2010). Sleep disorders have been long to be known as a disease symptom. Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the number of studies on sleep disorders, which has come to be considered a problem or a syndrome in its own right. Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders and an important public health issue with high prevalence (Karadag & Ursavas, 2007; Leger & Bayon, 2010). 30% of the general population and 9-10% of the US population are affected by sleep disorders (Laar, et al., 2010; Roth, 2007). Insomnia is defined as the subjective perception of one’s dissatisfaction with the amount and/or quality of sleep. It may manifest as difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep or too early awakening and inability to return to sleep (Roth, 2007; Smolensky, et al., 2011).