Questionnaires as the key tools for diagnosing sleep disorders

Abstract

More than 6 % of adults in highly developed countries suffer from chronic insomnia, and its prevalence in different European countries varies significantly from 5.7 to 19 %. According to the prevalence of insomnia in Canada, almost 70 % of patients have a long-term persistence of its symptoms during the year. The aim of the study – to analyze the available questionnaires for the diagnosis of insomnia and to determine the optimal tools for assessing sleep disorders, their severity and characteristics. Materials and Methods. Scientific publications for the last decade have been processed using Internet resources, domestic publications, and the MEDLINE/PubMed medical database. The key words for the search were "insomnia", "questionnaire". Results. According to the European Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Insomnia, a number of questionnaires are recommended for diagnosing insomnia and assessing its severity, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Bergen Insomnia Scale (BSAS) and the Sleep Status Indicator. Patients answer the questions of all recommended questionnaires independently, the duration of each session is 5–10 minutes. The use of a combination of these tools allows detecting sleep disorders, to estimate its frequency, duration, characteristics and impact on the person functioning. Conclusions. The use of questionnaires in research for diagnosing insomnia is effective and reasonable, and a combination of several questionnaires is the optimal method for assessing sleep disorders, their severity and characteristics

Keywords

• insomnia
• sleep disorders
• questionnaires