0429 Insomnia vs Poor Sleep: Characteristics of Sleep Complaints in a Social Media Sample

Abstract

Abstract Introduction There is a tendency for individuals to interpret sleep difficulties as "poor sleep" rather than insomnia. This occurs even though when many individuals describe their symptoms, they often describe symptoms of insomnia. Indeed, they reject the label of insomnia as applying to their specific sleep difficulties. Misinterpreting chronic insomnia as simply "poor sleep" may prevent or delay treatment seeking behavior and thereby prolong/worsen associated negative outcomes. Little is known about the sleep characteristics and rate of chronic insomnia in individuals who interpret their sleep disturbance as “poor sleep.” Methods 44,439 individuals age 30+ were shown an advertisement on social media with the prompt, "Poor sleep is annoying but insomnia is a serious issue. Take this free 1-minute quiz to learn the difference between insomnia and poor sleep." 1533 clicked on the ad to view the quiz and 468 completed the quiz. We included 449 responses in the current analysis. Nineteen were excluded as no insomnia symptoms were endorsed. The quiz queried DSM-V chronic insomnia diagnostic criteria. After completing the survey, the website supplied respondents with automated feedback and education about their responses. Results The quiz did not collect demographic information. However, those who clicked on the ad were 84% female and 87% age 55+. Sixty-nine percent (n=310) of responses met full diagnostic criteria. Reasons for not meeting diagnostic criteria were 13% (n=59) no sleep dissatisfaction, 10% (n=45) symptom frequency <3 nights/week, 6% (n=25) symptom duration <3 months, 7% (n=31) denied daytime symptoms, and 5% (n-21) inadequate opportunity for sleep. 54% (n=244) endorsed short sleep duration (<6 hours) despite adequate opportunity for sleep. Conclusion Of community members responding to the advertisement, over 2/3 met full diagnostic criteria for chronic insomnia and over 50% appear to have the more severe phenotype of insomnia with short sleep duration. Formal study of subjective sleep disturbance interpretation may help develop effective methods for communicating with insomnia sufferers who may minimize or not recognize the seriousness of their sleep disturbance. Support (If Any) None