Abstract
The complaint of trouble sleeping is very common in the practice of sleep medicine, and every physician who wants to be known as a sleep specialist should be knowledgeable about insomnia and have an organized and systematic approach to this problem. It has been estimated that 9% of adults in the United States have a complaint of insomnia, although the prevalance may be as high as 22%. Patients with insomnia view their problem in very emotional terms and for them it is very serious. And when patients see improvement, they are very grateful patients. Additionally, a complaint of insomnia increases morbidity in the elderly, for reasons ranging from falls to coronary events. Utilization of health care resources is higher in patients with severe insomnia. Insomnia should be considered a serious complaint from the patient because of the associated impairment of psychosocial function and quality of life. Insomnia can impair daytime alertness, concentration, memory, and ability to carry out daily tasks.
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Parish, J.M. (2007). Pharmacological Treatment of Insomnia. In: Pagel, J.F., Pandi-Perumal, S.R. (eds) Primary Care Sleep Medicine. Current Clinical Practice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-421-6_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-421-6_5
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