Sleeping habits of people living in the adelaide metropolitan area-a telephone survey

Abstract

A telephone survey within the Adelaide metropolitian area investigated the extent of sleeping problem and other sleeping habits within the population. A sample of 100 persons (33 males, 67 females) aged between 16 to 82 inclusive were interviewed. Ten percent often had trouble falling to sleep, 27% often woke during the night and 24% said they often woke too early. Twenty‐five percent said they did not get enough sleep. The incidence of self‐described insomnia. was 5.0% which was consistent with a 4.3% rate found in a recent American survey (Welstein, 1979). Sex and age differences with respect to the various categories of sleeping troubles were also found. A potentially alarming finding was that 29% reported that they used some kind of medication to help them sleep, 10% using them regularly. Despite the small sample size and non‐universal phone ownership in Adelaide, the similarity of these results to those elsewhere suggests that sleeping difficulties are a relatively common problem in Adelaide.