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Last reviewed: 10 Mar 2025
Last updated: 24 Jan 2025

Summary

Your Organisational Guidance

ebpracticenet urges you to prioritise the following organisational guidance:

Aanpak van slaapklachten en insomnie (slapeloosheid) bij volwassenen in de eerste lijnPublished by: Werkgroep Ontwikkeling Richtlijnen Eerste Lijn (Worel)Last published: 2018Prise en charge des problèmes de sommeil et de l’insomnie chez l’adulte en première lignePublished by: Groupe de Travail Développement de recommmandations de première ligneLast published: 2018

Definition

History and exam

Key diagnostic factors

  • presence of risk factors
  • sleep partner complaints
  • delayed sleep onset
  • multiple or long awakenings

Other diagnostic factors

  • impairment of functioning
  • accidents
  • decreased sleep time
  • daytime napping
  • thyrotoxicosis
  • chronic pain
  • restless legs syndrome
  • obstructive sleep apnoea

Risk factors

  • female sex
  • advanced age
  • chronic medical conditions
  • chronic pain
  • psychiatric illness
  • alcohol or substance misuse
  • stimulant use
  • poor sleep hygiene
  • traumatic brain injury
  • neuropsychiatric illness
  • use of certain medications
  • recent travel across time zones
  • night work
  • hyperthyroidism
  • participation in elite sport
  • sedentary behaviour

Diagnostic investigations

1st investigations to order

  • sleep diary
  • Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
  • Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)
  • Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS)
  • Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)
  • Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS)
  • Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
  • Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)

Investigations to consider

  • polysomnography (PSG)
  • actigraphy
  • thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
  • FBC and iron studies
  • urine or blood substance use panel

Treatment algorithm

Contributors

Authors

Joshua Hyong-Jin Cho, MD, PhD

Health Sciences Clinical Professor

Director, UCLA Insomnia Clinic

Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology

Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Los Angeles

CA

Disclosures

JHC is an author of a reference cited in this topic.

Paul Barkopoulos, MD, MPH

Clinical Professor

Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Los Angeles

CA

Disclosures

PB is an author of a reference cited in this topic.

Anthony E. Reading, MPhil, PhD

Clinical Professor

Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Los Angeles

CA

Disclosures

AER declares that he has no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

Dr Joshua Hyong-Jin Cho, Dr Paul Barkopoulos, and Dr Anthony E. Reading would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr John W. Winkelman, Dr Teofilo Lee-Chiong, and Dr Vipin Malik, previous contributors to this topic.

Disclosures

JWW has received honoraria for consulting to Avadel, CVS, Eisai, and Merck, and research grants from Merck and the RLS Foundation. TLC is the Chief Medical Liaison for Philips, a company that makes devices to treat sleep apnoea. VM received research funding from Philips Respironics for a study on COPD-OSA overlap.

Peer reviewers

Karl Doghramji, MD

Director

Sleep Disorders Center

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Philadelphia

PA

Disclosures

KD is a speaker for Sanofi-Aventis, King Pharmaceuticals, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Sepracor, and Pfizer; a consultant for Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Sepracor, Pfizer, and Neurocrine Biosciences; and has stock in Merck.

Chiadi U. Onyike, MD, MHS

Assistant Professor

Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry

The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Baltimore

MD

Disclosures

CUO declares that he has no competing interests.

Roy Goldberg, MD

Medical Director

Kings Harbor Multicare Center

Bronx

NY

Disclosures

RG declares that he has no competing interests.

Craig Sawchuk, MD

Affiliate Assistant Professor

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

University of Washington Medical Center

Seattle

WA

Disclosures

CS declares that he has no competing interests.

David Cunnington, MD

Director

Melbourne Sleep Disorders Centre

Melbourne

Victoria

Australia

Disclosures

DC has received consulting fees from Sanofi-Aventis and Lundbeck, and honoraria for speaking from Sanofi-Aventis.

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