Rubeena Kidwai, Syed Haroon Ahmed.
Prevalence of insomnia and use of sleep medicines in urban communities of karachi, pakistan.
J Pak Med Assoc Jan ;63(11):1358-63.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of insomnia, its associated factors and the use of sleep medicines. Methods: The cross-sectional survey of 1488 adults from five urban and semi urban communities of Karachi, Pakistan, was conducted from August 2007 to July 2008. All face-to-face interviews were conducted in Urdu and data was entirely based on self-reported information by the respondents. Data was analysed using STATA 10.1. Results: Of the total, 466 (31.3%) respondents reported insomnia out of which 141 (30.2%) reported using sleep medicines. These medicines were most frequently prescribed by some family physician (114/141; 80.8%). The odds of having insomnia were three times as likely if someone scored positive for psychological distress (OR 3.09; CI 2.30 - 4.15) and two times as likely if he/she was troubled by health related issues (OR = 2.40; CI 1.84 - 3.13) or had been exposed to adverse events (OR = 2.02; CI 1.18 - 3.45). Those who experienced financial problems were 59% more likely to report sleep problems (OR = 1.59; CI 1.20 - 2.12). Gender, age, income or occupational status were not found to be associated with insomnia, but married persons tended to enjoy better sleep. Conclusion: Every third respondent reported insomnia and one-third of these were taking a sleeping pill prescribed by a family physician. Married people enjoyed better sleep. Gender, age or income was not associated with sleep difficulties.

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