Anuja N Roy and Suresh Madhavan
Background: This study attempts to establish the incremental burden of co-morbid Insomnia in an indigent and underserved population among patients with other primary Chronic diagnoses. Methods: Adult patients with primary chronic diseases were categorized for co-morbid Insomnia using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). One-way ANOVA and regression were conducted to assess group differences in SF-36 domain scores and independent associations between insomnia and HRQL, adjusting for inherent differences. Results: 962 respondents were categorized as: 230 "Insomnia" and 732 "No Insomnia". Patients with insomnia had worse mean Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores across most disease categories. Patients with insomnia had lower scores in all of the SF-36 scales for all disease groups except OAD. Conclusion: Findings suggest a strong association of poverty levels with increase in sleep problems - especially among women, and make a case for treating co-morbid insomnia independently of the primary condition.