Prevalence of Sleep Disorders in a Population Aged 16 and Older
Authors: Belal Nada , Mutter Cody , Khanna Deepesh 
Published: April 2020

Background

Having an interrupted night’s sleep can lead to a decrease in work productivity as well as a potential for health issues. Therefore, it is important to know the prevalence of sleep‐related disorders to better understand these problems. By assessing sleep‐related issues, we can then conduct further research to overcome those issues and their complications.

Objective

The objective of this study is to evaluate the presence of sleep‐related disorders in a population aged 16 and older.

Methods

This survey‐based study was conducted in 2015–2016 by the Center for Disease Control. Questions were asked at the respondent’s home by trained interviewers using the Computer‐Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) system. This review looks at four variables: frequency of snoring, frequency of snorting, trouble sleeping, and feeling sleepy during the day. Responses were elicited through four questions for each variable, respectively: “in the past 12 months, how often did you snore while you were sleeping?” “in the past 12 months, how often did you snort, gasp, or stop breathing while you were asleep?” “Have you ever told a doctor or other health professional that you have trouble sleeping?” and “in the past month, how often did you feel excessively or overly sleepy during the day?” The association between all four variables was assessed with Chi‐Square tests for males and females. The level of significance was set at 0.05.

Results

Data are presented as a percentage. A total of 6327 subjects participated in the study: 3048 males and 3279 females. Statistical analysis showed that 28.3% of males snore frequently (5 or more nights a week), 17.8% of males snore occasionally (3–4 nights a week), and 22.7% of males snore rarely (1–2 nights a week). On the other hand, 19.9% of females snore frequently, 16% snore occasionally, and 23.9% snore rarely (χ2=89.152, p=0.000). Out of the total males, 5.7% snort or stop breathing frequently, 6.9% snort occasionally, and 14.2% snort rarely. On the other hand, 3.4% of females snort frequently, 4.3% stop breathing occasionally, and 10.3% snort rarely (χ2=78.394, p=0.000). Furthermore, 22.3% of males and 28.9% of females told yes to the doctor that they had trouble sleeping (χ2=35.652, p=0.000). Out of the total males, 6.7% almost always feels overly sleepy during the day (16–30 times a month), 17.5% often feels overly sleepy during the day (5–15 times a month), 32.1% sometimes feel overly sleepy (2–4 times a month) and 24% rarely feels overly sleepy during the day (1 time a month). Out of the total females, 9.8% almost always feel overly sleepy during the day, 18.3% often feel overly sleepy during the day, 32.8% sometimes feel overly sleepy and 23% rarely feels overly sleepy during the day (χ2=28.552, p=0.000

Conclusion

Results are mixed for the occurrence of sleep‐related issues between males and females. Males had a higher prevalence of frequent snoring compared to females. Males also had a higher prevalence of frequent snorting than females. On the other hand, there was a higher prevalence of trouble sleeping for females than for males. The same was true for always feeling overly sleepy during the day, which had a higher prevalence in females than males. These results are interesting in that it shows males to have more trouble with breathing behaviors during sleep, and females to have more trouble with wakefulness and feeling tired.