OBJECTIVES : The main objective of this study was to assess humanistic burden of chronic insomnia, a highly prevalent sleep disorder associated with multiple health problems, in treated and untreated patients in Europe (UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy), using real world data.

METHODS : Data from the 2020 EU (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain; N=62,319) National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS), which is a patient-reported survey administered yearly to a demographically representative sample of adults (with respect to age, sex, and region), were used. Respondents who self-reported a confirmed diagnosis of insomnia (and no other sleep difficulties) and being on treatment (DT, N=812) were compared to diagnosed but untreated respondents (DUt, N=1601) and to patients self-reporting having experienced insomnia but undiagnosed and untreated (UdUt, N=6221), using ANOVA and Chi-square tests, in respect to their insomnia severity index (ISI) scores, self-reported diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety, and quality of life (EQ-5D-5L) scores.

RESULTS : A higher proportion of DT (50.9%) had moderate to severe insomnia (ISI≥15), when compared to DUt (43.8%) or UdUt (25.1%). On average (mean±SD), DT patients had experienced 246.5±136.6 days of insomnia in the previous 12 months, while DUt had a mean of 201.0±137.7 and UdUt:144.0±133.7 days. A lower proportion (19.4%) of UdUt respondents self-reported a diagnosis of depression than DT (48.2%) or DUt (44.8%). A diagnosis of anxiety was less prevalent in UdUt patients (18.9%) than in DUt (42.6%) or DT (49.9%). EQ-5D-5L scores were different across cohorts, with DT having the lowest scores (mean±SD: 0.68±0.26) vs DUt:0.72±0.24 and UdUT:0.80±19.

CONCLUSIONS : These results suggest that, despite treatment, patients continue experiencing moderate to severe insomnia, frequently. The humanistic burden of insomnia is substantial, indicating an unmet need for better treatments with improved outcomes for insomnia patients.