Prevalence of insomnia and sleep medication use in female

Insomnia is a common complaint in the general population, especially in female. However, associated factors with sleep medication use have not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate sex difference in both occurrence of insomnia and medication use. We also aimed to reveal the associated factors with medication use. Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire Index, CES-D, and demographic variables questionnaire were sent to residents in the rural district of Japan. Both insomnia index and the rate of sleep medication use were significantly higher in female than in the age-matched male. Logistic regression analysis revealed that medication use was associated with female sex, advancing age, existence of disease, depressive symptom, aggravation of sleep quality, and prolongation of sleep onset. These results suggest that prevalence of insomnia and medication use is higher in female, indicating a necessity of sleep hygiene education for this population.