Detection of insomnia in primary care

Insomnia is a widespread condition with diverse presentations. Detection and diagnosis of insomnia present a particular challenge to the primary care physician. Patients seldom identity their sleep habits as the source of the complaints for which they are seeking treatment. Insomnia may he the result of many different medical or psychiatric illnesses or the side effects of medications or legal or illegal recreational drugs. Insomnia has a serious impact on daily activities and can cause serious or fatal injuries. With ever-increasing competition with sleep from 23-hour television broadcasts from hundreds of channels and the Internet, as well as more traditional distractions of late-night movies. clubs, and bars, we have become a society that sleeps 25% less than our ancestors did a century ago. We have no evidence, however, that we require less sleep than they did. This article presents strategics for detecting and diagnosing insomnia.