Prevalence of insomnia and use of sleep medicines in urban communities of Karachi, Pakistan.

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.