Prevalence of insomnia in Poland - results of the National Health Interview Survey.

BACKGROUND: Sleep disturbances are one of the most common underdiagnosed and undertreated health problems among the adult population. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of sleeping problems and their relation to sociodemographic characteristics in the Polish population, based on the results of the National Health Interview Survey carried out by the Central Statistical Office in 1996. METHODS: A stratified sampling scheme, involving two steps, was used. Standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs and their 95% confidence intervals) were calculated. Assessment of sleep-related problems was based on six questions. A representative Polish sample (47 924 non-institutionalized, adult respondents) was interviewed. RESULTS: Nearly one-fourth of Polish inhabitants suffered from insomnia. The percentage was significantly higher among women (28.1%) than among men (18.1%). The prevalence of insomnia increased with age and was highest in divorced respondents. Respondents of both sexes with higher educational levels suffered from insomnia less often than individuals with lower levels of education. The problem of insomnia applies in a similar degree to inhabitants of both rural and urban regions. About one-twentieth of inhabitants of Poland experienced recent sleep deterioration related to problems. It was associated positively with age, female gender and lower education. About 20% of the population get up not rested in the morning, women significantly more often than men, urban residents more often than rural ones. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep-related problems are common and the results are comparable with those from other countries. The findings have important implications, such as the necessity of better education of the public community about the identification and possibilities of treatment of sleep disturbance.

[Evaluation of prevalence of emotional low self esteem and neurosis in Poland in 1996]. / Ocena rozpowszechnienia zlego samopoczucia emocjonalnego i nerwicy w Polsce w roku 1996.

The paper presents psychiatric problems included in national, health interview survey, recommended by the WHO, carried out by the Central Statistical Office in Poland in 1996. Authors are going to estimate the prevalence of a bad frame of mind and neurosis among Polish adult people and try to appoint the relationships between psychiatric disorders and gender and place of residence. We estimated results in 49 provinces. There were significant differences between east and west Poland. People who live in eastern provinces have a worse psychological condition than western. Women have higher rate of these this psychiatric problems. We also found a major correlation between dissemination of a bad frame of mind and neurosis among men and women.