Insomnia, health-related quality of life and healthcare resource consumption - A study of managed-care organisation enrollees

Objective: insomnia is a prevalent sleep complaint which has been reported to be greatly associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HR-QO L) and increased healthcare resource use. This study documents the prevalen ce of insomnia, and its impact on patients' HR-QOL and healthcare resource use in managed-care settings in the US. Design and Setting: A multi site survey of 5 American Medical Group Associa tion(R) (AMGA) clinics was conducted. Each clinic mailed questionnaires to 1100 randomly selected individuals enrolled in its healthcare system and di stributed questionnaires to 400 individuals during a clinic visit and prior to seeing a physician. The questionnaire was a form of the Health Status Q uestionnaire with the well-validated Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short F orm (SF-36) Health Survey, a 3-question depression screen, a sleep question naire, demographic variables, and questions about medical encounters and pr escription and over-the-counter (OTC) drug use. Main outcome measures and results: Approximately one-third of managed-care enrollees in this study reported insomnia with daytime dysfunction. Individ uals with insomnia reported lower HR-QOL scores and increased healthcare re source use compared with individuals with no insomnia. After controlling fo r demographic variables and comorbid conditions, the negative association o f insomnia remained significant on all HR-QOL scores, emergency room visits , calls to the physician and OTC drugs use. Conclusions: Insomnia is significantly associated with reduced HR-QOL and i ncreased healthcare resource use in enrollees of managed-care organisations .