Acute insomnia found to be common among good sleepers

(HealthDay)—Acute insomnia (AI) is common among good sleepers, and about three-quarters of those with AI recover good sleep, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (SLEEP 2018), held from June 2 to 6 in Baltimore.

Amy Gencarelli, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues obtained data for a national cohort of 1,435 subjects who were recruited and corroborated as good sleepers over the course of the first three months of the study. Over one year, subjects were monitored with daily sleep diaries. Regular assessments of participants' daytime function, stress and life events, and medical and mental health were made.

The researchers found that the incident rate of AI was 25 percent. Within 12 months, about 75 percent of subjects recovered good sleep, while 21 and about 6 percent remained poor sleepers with recurring episodes of AI and developed chronic insomnia, respectively. Demographic variables (race, age, sex, body mass index, and income) did not differ significantly between the groups.

"These findings reveal new insights about the paths that acute insomnia takes and can inform interventions that target poor sleep and help people recover sustained sufficient sleep," a coauthor said in a statement.

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