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The medicalization of sleeplessness: a public health concern
Mairead Eastin Moloney1, Thomas R Konrad, Catherine R Zimmer
1University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Program on Integrative Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7200, USA. Moloney@email.unc.edu
Abstract:
Sleeplessness, a universal condition with diverse causes, may be increasingly diagnosed and treated (or medicalized) as insomnia. We examined the trend in sleeplessness complaints, diagnoses, and prescriptions of sedative hypnotics in physician office visits from 1993 to 2007. Consistent with the medicalization hypothesis, sleeplessness complaints and insomnia diagnoses increased over time and were far outpaced by prescriptions for sedative hypnotics. Insomnia may be a public health concern, but potential overtreatment with marginally effective, expensive medications with nontrivial side effects raises definite population health concerns.
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