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Insomnia and health problems in Canadians
D A Sutton1, H Moldofsky, E M Badley
1Arthritis Community Research and Evaluation Unit, the Arthritis and Immune Disorder Research Centre, The University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.
Sleep
|September 19, 2001
Summary
Insomnia affects 24% of Canadians aged 15 and older. High stress, pain, and poor health significantly increase insomnia risk, while age and lifestyle factors do not.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- Insomnia is a prevalent sleep disorder with significant public health implications.
- Understanding the factors associated with insomnia is crucial for developing targeted interventions.
- Previous research has identified various contributing factors, but population-specific data is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of insomnia in the Canadian population aged 15 and older.
- To identify sociodemographic, lifestyle, stress, and physical health factors associated with insomnia.
- To analyze the relative contribution of these factors to insomnia experience.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional analysis of weighted data from the Canadian General Social Survey (1991).
- Inclusion of a representative sample of the Canadian household population (n=11,924).
- Application of multiple logistic regression to assess factor contributions.
Main Results:
- Twenty-four percent of Canadians aged 15+ reported insomnia.
- Significant associations found with female gender, widowed/single status, low education and income, and not being in the labor force.
- Life stress, chronic physical health problems (circulatory, digestive, respiratory, rheumatic disorders, migraine, allergy), pain, activity limitation, and health dissatisfaction were strongly linked to insomnia.
Conclusions:
- Insomnia is highly prevalent in the non-institutionalized Canadian population.
- High stress, severe pain, and health dissatisfaction are key predictors of insomnia.
- Age and general lifestyle factors were not significantly associated with insomnia in this study.