Half of Chronically Ill Patients Have Insomnia

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Half of Chronically Ill Patients Have Insomnia

Mon Apr 8, 5:27 PM ET

By Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study shows that people with chronic

mental or physical illness are also likely to suffer from insomnia,

which severely worsens their overall quality of life.

To investigate the effect of insomnia on health-related quality of life,

Dr. A. Katz of the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Dr.

Colleen A. McHorney of Indiana University in Indianapolis analyzed

questionnaires completed by 3,445 patients with chronic illness. Fifty

percent of the patients reported insomnia. Sixteen percent of them

characterized their inability to sleep as " severe. "

After controlling for the effects of depression, anxiety and medical

problems, which prior studies failed to do, the investigators discovered

that insomnia was " independently associated with worsened health-related

quality of life to almost the same extent as chronic conditions such as

congestive heart failure and clinical depression. "

In particular, patients reported that insomnia had a negative impact on

their mental health, vitality and general health perceptions, the

researchers report in the March issue of The Journal of Family Practice.

" Clinicians should not ignore insomnia, " the authors write. But as they

point out, many do, according to the National Commission on Sleep

Disorders Research, which recently reviewed 10,000 medical records from

nine family practices and found only 123 notations on sleep. And not one

suggested an effective response to a sleep complaint.

" By identifying and treating chronic insomnia, including any

predisposing conditions that may perpetuate insomnia, clinicians can

significantly improve the quality of life of patients with chronic

illness, " Katz told Reuters Health.

SOURCE: The Journal of Family Practice 2002;51:229-235.