Prevalence of Insomnia Among Patients with Bronchial Asthma

Insomnia is commonly reported in patients with asthma. However, the prevalence of insomnia and its relationship to asthma control have not been established.

To determine the prevalence of insomnia in adults with asthma and to evaluate the association between insomnia and level of asthma control.

This is a cross-sectional study of 200 patients recruited from pulmonary clinics at a tertiary care center. Adults (age ≥16 years) diagnosed with asthma by the primary treating physician were recruited over a 6-month period from December 2018 to May 2019. Asthma and insomnia severity were assessed using the Asthma Control Test and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI).

The mean age of participants was 51±17 years, and 67% were female. Insomnia (ISI score ≥10) was present in 46.5% of the participants. The severity of insomnia was inversely related to the level of asthma control: moderate-to-severe insomnia was more frequent in patients with uncontrolled asthma (43%) than in those with partially controlled asthma (25%) or well-controlled asthma (12%) (P < 0.05 for all comparisons).

Insomnia is common among patients with asthma, especially those with suboptimal asthma control. Further investigations are required to more fully understand the complex relationship between asthma and insomnia.