title: Prevalence of insomnia and use of sleep medicines in urban communities of Karachi, Pakistan.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: PAF-KIET College of Management Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. kidwai.r@gmail.com
authors.forename: Rubeena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kidwai
authors.affiliation: Pakistan Association for Mental Health, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Syed Haroon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D015995:Prevalence; D057566:Self Report; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives