Prevalence and impact of sleep disorders and sleep habits in the United States

• Published in: Sleep & breathing Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 63 - 70
• Main Authors: Ram, Saravanan, Seirawan, Hazem, Kumar, Satish K. S., Clark, Glenn T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.02.2010; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Dentistry; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Epidemiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Habits; Head and neck surgery. Maxillofacial surgery. Dental surgery. Orthodontics; Humans; Insomnia; Internal Medicine; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Original Article; Otorhinolaryngology; Pediatrics; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Polysomnography; Prevalence; Restless Legs Syndrome - diagnosis; Restless Legs Syndrome - epidemiology; Severity of Illness Index; Sleep; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive - diagnosis; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive - epidemiology; Sleep disorders; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - diagnosis; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - epidemiology; Sleep Wake Disorders - diagnosis; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Sleep. Vigilance; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surgery of the upper aerodigestive tract; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States - epidemiology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Young Adult; United States; North America; America; Restless legs syndrome; Sleep; Insomnia; NHANES; Sleep apnea; Epidemiology; Sleep habits; Sensitivity disorder; Nervous system diseases; Sleep apnea syndrome; Prevalence; Respiratory disease; Sleep disorder; Sleep wake cycle; Neurological disorder
• ISSN: 1520-9512; 1522-1709
• DOI: 10.1007/s11325-009-0281-3

Purpose Epidemiologic studies on sleep disorders in the USA have mostly focused on specific disorders in specific groups of individuals. Most studies on sleep habits and sleep-related difficulties have focused on children and adolescents. The authors describe the prevalence of the three common physician-diagnosed sleep disorders (insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless legs syndrome (RLS)) by age, gender, and race in the US population. In addition, the authors describe the sleep habits and sleep-related difficulties in carrying routine daily activities. The authors also investigate the impact of the sleep disorders on performing routine daily activities. Methods Data from the 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 6,139 individuals over the age of 16 was analyzed for sleep-related parameters. Results The prevalence was highest for sleep apnea (4.2%), followed by insomnia (1.2%) and RLS (0.4%). Hispanics and Whites reported longer sleep duration than Blacks by 24 to 30 min. The predominant sleep habits were snoring while sleeping (48%), feeling unrested during the day (26.5%), and not getting enough sleep (26%). Difficulty concentrating (25%) or remembering (18%) were the main sleep-related difficulties in our sample. Insomnia, sleep apnea, and RLS had the highest impact on concentration and memory. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the prevalence of sleep disorders in the USA is much lower than previously reported in the literature suggesting under diagnosis of sleep disorders by primary care physicians.