title: The medicalization of sleeplessness: a public health concern.
abstract: Sleeplessness, a universal condition with diverse causes, may be increasingly diagnosed and treated (or medicalized) as insomnia. We examined the trend in sleeplessness complaints, diagnoses, and prescriptions of sedative hypnotics in physician office visits from 1993 to 2007. Consistent with the medicalization hypothesis, sleeplessness complaints and insomnia diagnoses increased over time and were far outpaced by prescriptions for sedative hypnotics. Insomnia may be a public health concern, but potential overtreatment with marginally effective, expensive medications with nontrivial side effects raises definite population health concerns.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Program on Integrative Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7200, USA. Moloney@email.unc.edu
authors.forename: Mairead Eastin
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Moloney
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Konrad
authors.forename: Catherine R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Zimmer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives