The prevalence of chronic insomnia has doubled in Spain over the last two decades and now affects more than 14% of the adult population. This means that 5.4 million people (one in seven adults) have sleep problems that affect their day-to-day life and that have lasted for at least three months. This is what emerges from a study led by members of the insomnia group of the Spanish Sleep Society (SES) with data collected between 2018 and 2019, before the outbreak of covid, which suggests, according to the authors, that the current prevalence may be higher because the consumption of anxiolytics and hypnotics skyrocketed with the pandemic.
The data of the study - obtained through a telephone survey of more than 2,000 people representative of the Spanish adult population - indicate that 14% of adults suffer from chronic insomnia, while in 1998-1999 (date of the previous study) affected 6.4%. The prevalence is higher among women than among men (14.6% versus 13.4%) and among those over 55 (17.9%). Among young people, the group aged 18 to 34, it is estimated that 11% have regular problems sleeping and that in the 35-54 age group, insomnia affects 11.5%.
However, the experts assure that those who sleep worse and have the most daytime consequences due to lack of sleep are young people, "but since they do not receive treatment and the problem does not tend to become chronic, the prevalence of insomnia among they are lower, despite the fact that some could suffer from other undiagnosed sleep disorders, such as insufficient sleep or a delay in the phase of the circadian rhythm", said Manuel de Entrambasaguas, neurophysiologist expert in sleep medicine and lead author of the study in your presentation
Their research has also detected that pharmacological treatment (9.3% of respondents took prescription drugs for sleep) is not effective for one in four affected. 25% of these people who take pills for insomnia continue to sleep badly, and 18% think that they would not have problems sleeping if they did not take them, but still do so. "These data warn about the lack of monitoring and control of these treatments", warned Entrambasaugas.
But despite the high percentage of people who resort to prescription or non-prescription drugs to sleep, the neurophysiologist emphasizes that the treatment that has proven most effective in combating insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy, which also does not have the side effects of drugs . This therapy "includes education with reliable information about physiological sleep and insomnia, sleep hygiene (routines and the environment that favor it) and relaxation therapies", explained the SES specialist. Regarding these therapies, he pointed out that "mindfulness or full attention, which can improve the regulation of emotions and the control of thoughts, is gaining more and more interest".
Specialists say that this type of therapy has not only shown more effectiveness, even in the long term, than sleeping pills, but that they avoid their side effects. "Drugs such as lorazepam, diazepam, lormetazepam and zolpidem can be problematic in the elderly, who are the main consumers, because they are associated with a greater risk of falls and cognitive impairment", warned the expert of the SES
And he recalled that insomnia not only has a negative effect on people's quality of life, but also has a strong economic impact in the work and health sector.
