ArticleBMJ open2024
Insomnia symptom prevalence in England: a comparison of cross-sectional self-reported data and primary care records in the UK Biobank.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Worrying about future finances and sleep problems: loneliness as a psychosocial pathway.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Sleep and circadian health in the UK Biobank: report on the 2023 sleep questionnaire enhancement.Sleep · 2026Article
- Digital Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia Delivered Within a Crenotherapy Setting: Results from a Multicentre Proof-of-Concept Randomised Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of insomnia among adults in Anhui Province, China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Concordance Between Self-Report and Electronic Medical Record Diagnoses of Insomnia and Sleep Apnea: Lessons From the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry.Medical care · 2026Article
- Acupotomy at spinal acupoints for primary insomnia: an exploration of therapeutic effectiveness.American journal of translational research · 2026Article
- Acute effects of daylight saving time clock changes on mental and physical health in England: population based retrospective cohort study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Article
- Exploring potentially morally injurious events and mental health in a UK representative population.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Circadian clock genes and insomnia: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic implications.Annals of medicine · 2025Review
- The effects of daylight saving time clock changes on accelerometer-measured sleep duration in the UK Biobank.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- Large-Scale Sleep Survey and the Impact of Step-Based Exercise.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Article
- Prevalence and associated risk factors of insomnia among adults attending primary health care settings in the Kingdom of Bahrain.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2024Article
- Diagnostic Rates of Alcohol Use Disorder, Insomnia Disorder, and Their Co-Occurrence in the Veterans Health Administration From 2018 to 2023.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
- The influence of temperature on suicidality in youth: The role of insomnia.The journal of climate change and healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesWe aimed to use a large dataset to compare self-reported and primary care measures of insomnia symptom prevalence in England and establish whether they identify participants with similar characteristics.
designCross-sectional study with linked electronic health records (EHRs).
settingPrimary care in England.
participants163 748 UK Biobank participants in England (aged 38-71 at baseline) with linked primary care EHRs. OUTCOME MEASURES: We compared the percentage of those self-reporting 'usually' having insomnia symptoms at UK Biobank baseline assessment (2006-2010) to those with a Read code for insomnia symptoms in their primary care records prior to baseline. We stratified prevalence in both groups by sociodemographic, lifestyle, sleep and health characteristics.
resultsWe found that 29% of the sample self-reported having insomnia symptoms, while only 6% had a Read code for insomnia symptoms in their primary care records. Only 10% of self-reported cases had an insomnia symptom Read code, while 49% of primary care cases self-reported having insomnia symptoms. In both primary care and self-reported data, prevalence of insomnia symptom cases was highest in females, older participants and those with the lowest household incomes. However, while snorers and risk takers were more likely to be a primary care case, they were less likely to self-report insomnia symptoms than non-snorers and non-risk takers.
conclusionsOnly a small proportion of individuals experiencing insomnia symptoms have an insomnia symptom Read code in their primary care record. However, primary care data do provide a clinically meaningful measure of insomnia prevalence. In addition, the sociodemographic characteristics of people attending primary care with insomnia were consistent with those with self-reported insomnia, thus primary care records are a valuable data source for studying risk factors for insomnia. Further studies should replicate our findings in other populations and examine ways to increase discussions about sleep health in primary care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.