[Chronification of sleep disorders. Results of a representative survey in West Germany]

In a representative selection of German citizens who were older than 13 years of age, 1,997 were asked about their sleep complaints. They were also asked how frequently a physician was consulted and how often sleeping pills were taken. According to our results sleep disturbances are an important health problem in Germany. Every fourth person suffers at least sometimes from difficulties in falling asleep and/or staying asleep, problems which are not due to external influences. Seven percent suffer frequently or always from these complaints; 15% report that they are frequently tired or that they are always tired during the day. Ten percent of all persons suffering from sleep complaints take sleeping pills daily or at least sometimes during the week. Forty-five percent of all persons who take hypnotics daily still frequently or always suffer from difficulties in falling asleep and/or staying asleep. Furthermore, sleep complaints tend to become chronic: 75% of the sleep-disturbed population are chronically ill, having had complaints for more than 2 years of since childhood. They suffer from sleep disturbances and from reduced performance during the following day. Nevertheless, it appears as though neither patients nor physicians take insomnia seriously. This might answer the question of why only 17% of the persons who do not suffer more than 2 years from sleep disturbances and only 49% of the chronically ill population consult a doctor because of their sleep disturbances. The results of this study indicate the importance of informing patients and physicians about insomnia and different ways of treating it.