The prevalence of chronic insomnia has doubled in Spain in the last two decades and already affects more than 14% of the adult population. This means that 5.4 million people have sleeping problems that in some way affect their daily lives and that have lasted for a minimum of three months.
This is clear from a study led by members of the insomnia working group of the Spanish Sleep Society (SES) with data collected between 2018 and 2019, which reflects the situation prior to the outbreak of covid, which suggests, according to the authors, that the prevalence of chronic insomnia disorder could now be higher considering that the consumption of anxiolytics and hypnosedatives skyrocketed during and after the pandemic.
The data from the study – obtained through a telephone survey of more than 2,000 people from a representative sample of the Spanish adult population – indicate that 14% of adults suffer from chronic insomnia, while in 1998-99 (date of previous study) affected 6.4%.
And the prevalence is higher among women than among men (14.6% compared to 13.4%) and among those over 55 years of age (17.9%). Among young people, the group between 18 and 34 years old, it is estimated that 11% have regular sleeping problems and that in the 35-54 age group, insomnia affects 11.5%.
However, experts assure that those who sleep the worst and have more daytime consequences due to lack of sleep are young people, “but since they do not take medication nor does the problem tend to become chronic, the prevalence of insomnia among them is lower, although some could suffer from other undiagnosed sleep disorders, such as insufficient sleep or delayed circadian rhythm phase,” said Manuel de Entrambasaguas, neurophysiologist expert in sleep medicine at the Valencia Clinical Hospital and lead author of the study in his presentation.
And not only among young people are there people with undiagnosed or untreated sleep disorders, according to specialists, who report that in the national health system the number of multidisciplinary units that treat these problems is low.
In this sense, a relevant piece of information from the study is that pharmacological treatment is not effective for one in four people who take it, because 25% continue to sleep poorly, and 18% of respondents think that they would not have problems sleeping if they did not. take the medication but still continue taking it. “These data warn about the lack of monitoring and control of these treatments,” Entrambasaugas warned.
9.3% of the people interviewed by the researchers took prescription sleep medications – the most commonly used were lorazepam, diazepam, lormetazepam and zolpidem – although one in five did not know the name of the drug they were taking.
But despite the high percentage of people who use prescription or over-the-counter drugs to sleep, the neurophysiologist emphasizes that the treatment that has proven most effective in combating insomnia is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which, furthermore, does not have the side effects of the drugs. drugs.
“Cognitive-behavioral therapy includes education with reliable information about physiological sleep and insomnia, sleep hygiene (the routines and environment that favor sleep), and relaxation therapies,” explained the SES specialist.
And he has specified that the behavioral component includes restricting the time spent in bed to the time one actually falls asleep and then gradually increasing it, as well as stimulus control to promote the association between bed and bedroom with sleep, in addition to dismantle erroneous beliefs about sleep.
Regarding relaxation therapies, Dr. Entrambasaguas explains that “there is increasing interest in mindfulness, which can facilitate the regulation of emotions and better control of thoughts.”
Sleep specialists assure that this type of therapy has not only shown more effectiveness even in the long term than the drugs that are usually taken to sleep, but also avoids its side effects. “Drugs such as lorazepam, diazepam, lormetazepam and zolpidem can be problematic in older people, who are their main consumers, because they are associated with a greater risk of falls and cognitive deterioration,” the expert has warned.
During the press conference held within the framework of the XXXI Congress of the SES in Toledo, sleep specialists recalled that insomnia not only has a negative effect on people’s quality of life, but also has a strong economic impact. in the workplace and health field.
Regarding its high prevalence – it has also grown in other developed countries – experts relate it to hyperactivation, to the stressed lifestyle typical of today’s society.
And they believe that to analyze its causes, “it would be necessary to investigate, for example, inequality and job insecurity, family conciliation, long working hours or disruptive schedules, loneliness, social tension or the massive emergence of the smartphone with its continuous entertainment and information”, in the words of Entrambasaguas. “Overall, it is important to know if we can and know how to disconnect and find time for reflection, personal fulfillment, self-care and good interpersonal relationships,” she commented.
