Prevalence of Insomnia Among Patients with Bronchial Asthma.

Background: Insomnia is commonly reported in patients with asthma. However, the prevalence of insomnia and its relationship to asthma control have not been established.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of insomnia in adults with asthma and to evaluate the association between insomnia and level of asthma control.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 200 patients recruited from pulmonary clinics at a tertiary care center. Adults (age ≥16 years) diagnosed with asthma by the primary treating physician were recruited over a 6-month period from December 2018 to May 2019. Asthma and insomnia severity were assessed using the Asthma Control Test and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI).

Results: The mean age of participants was 51±17 years, and 67% were female. Insomnia (ISI score ≥10) was present in 46.5% of the participants. The severity of insomnia was inversely related to the level of asthma control: moderate-to-severe insomnia was more frequent in patients with uncontrolled asthma (43%) than in those with partially controlled asthma (25%) or well-controlled asthma (12%) (P < 0.05 for all comparisons).

Conclusion: Insomnia is common among patients with asthma, especially those with suboptimal asthma control. Further investigations are required to more fully understand the complex relationship between asthma and insomnia.