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Table of Contents
Insomnia Overview
Insomnia ICD 10 Code
How Common Is Insomnia?
Causes and Risk Factors
Insomniais the most common sleep disorder. It involves difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or both.These sleep disturbances negatively affect the amount and quality ofsleep you needto function properly the next day.
Roughly one-third of adults experience occasional insomnia at some point in their lifetime. It’s estimated that 1 in 10 people will develop chronic (or long-lasting) insomnia.
This article highlights important facts and statistics you should know about insomnia.
Adene Sanchez/ Getty Images
Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or remain asleep. It interferes with normaldaytime functioning.
The two maincategories of insomniaare:
In general, insomnia is consideredprimaryif your sleeplessness isn’t linked to a known cause. Secondary insomnia results from a medication side effect, amedical condition, or a substance such ascaffeinethat is interfering with your sleep.
Experiencingoccasional sleeplessnessis common and doesn’t necessarily mean you have clinical insomnia. Sleep troubles are classified as insomnia when they happen at least three times per week, persist for at least three months, and negatively affect daily functioning.
Healthcare professionals use the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10 code) to categorize medical conditions on patient records and insurance bills. Each medical diagnosis has a different code, which is noted on patient paperwork to ensure that you’re receiving the proper care for your condition and being charged correctly for medical services.
Insomnia affects millions of Americans. It’s estimated that roughly:
Insomnia is commonly found in older adults, women, and peopleexperiencing mental health issues.
Insomnia and the COVID-19 PandemicNot surprisingly, collective external stressors like theCOVID-19pandemic can affect sleep. In one global study, almost 37% of participantsreported having insomnia symptoms, while more than 17% likely met the criteria for a clinical insomnia diagnosis. These rates were much higher in women and people in certain countries, including the United States.
Insomnia and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Not surprisingly, collective external stressors like theCOVID-19pandemic can affect sleep. In one global study, almost 37% of participantsreported having insomnia symptoms, while more than 17% likely met the criteria for a clinical insomnia diagnosis. These rates were much higher in women and people in certain countries, including the United States.
More research is needed to better understand the impact sleep disorders have on people of color.
Available research suggests that Black and Latinx individuals are more likely to report sleeping issues than White individuals. These insomnia-related symptoms include sleeping forshorter periodsand gettinglower-quality sleep, among other sleep disturbances.
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Anyone can get insomnia, though this sleep disorder seems more common in women, older adults, and specific subsets of younger age groups. According to research:
The Cost of InsomniaBecause insomnia affects daytime functioning, it takes a toll on workplace productivity and performance. Researchers estimate the overall burden of insomnia on the U.S. workforce costs roughly $63 billion.
The Cost of Insomnia
Because insomnia affects daytime functioning, it takes a toll on workplace productivity and performance. Researchers estimate the overall burden of insomnia on the U.S. workforce costs roughly $63 billion.
Causes of Insomnia and Risk Factors
There are a variety of factors that make it more likely for a person todevelop insomnia, including:
The cause of insomnia can also be unknown in some cases.
Summary
Insomnia—defined as trouble getting to sleep and/or staying asleep—occasionally affects at least one-third of the population. Roughly 1 in 10 adults will experience chronic insomnia, meaning the sleep disturbances are long-term. Insomnia is more common in older adults, women, and people experiencing mental health issues. Other contributing factors for insomnia include stress, shift work, medication or substance use, and certain medical or mental health conditions.
26 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Sleep disorders.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Insomnia.American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia awareness day facts and stats.Sateia MJ.International Classification of Sleep Disorders—third edition: highlights and modifications.Chest. 2014;146(5):1387-1394. doi:10.1378/chest.14-0970National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What is insomnia?.Krystal AD, Ashbrook LH, Prather AA.What is insomnia?.JAMA. 2021;326(23):2444. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.19283American Academy of Family Physicians.Insomnia.American Psychiatric Association.Insomnia disorder.AAPC.ICD-10-CM code for Insomnia due to medical condition G47.01.Ellis JG, Perlis ML, Neale LF, Espie CA, Bastien CH.The natural history of insomnia: focus on prevalence and incidence of acute insomnia.J Psychiatr Res.2012;46(10): 1278-1285. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.07.001Bhaskar S, Hemavathy D, Prasad S.Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities.J Family Med Prim Care. 2016;5(4):780-784. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.201153.Morin CM, Bjorvatn B, Chung F, et al.Insomnia, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international collaborative study.Sleep Med. 2021;87:38-45. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2021.07.035Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine.Risk factors for insomnia.Jehan S, Myers AK, Zizi F, et al.Sleep health disparity: the putative role of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.Sleep Med Disord. 2018;2(5):127-133.American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Minority health and sleep.Chen X, Wang R, Zee P, et al.Racial/ethnic differences in sleep disturbances: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).Sleep. 2015;38(6):877-888. doi:10.5665/sleep.4732Nguyen V, George T, Brewster GS.Insomnia in older adults.Curr Geriatr Rep. 2019;8(4):271-290. doi:10.1007/s13670-019-00300-xDepartment of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health.Insomnia.Jehan S, Auguste E, Hussain M, Pandi-Perumal SR, Brzezinski A, Gupta R, Attarian H, Jean-Louis G, McFarlane SI.Sleep and Premenstrual Syndrome.J Sleep Med Disord. 2016;3(5):1061.Nowakowski S, Meers J, Heimbach E.Sleep and women’s health.Sleep Med Res. 2013;4(1):1-22. doi:10.17241/smr.2013.4.1.1.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Insomnia: causes and risk factors.Calhoun SL, Fernandez-Mendoza J, Vgontzas AN, Liao D, Bixler EO.Prevalence of insomnia symptoms in a general population sample of young children and preadolescents: gender effects.Sleep Med. 2014;15(1):91-95. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2013.08.787Kessler RC, Berglund PA, Coulouvrat C, at al.Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America Insomnia Survey.Sleep. 2011;34(9):1161-71. doi: 10.5665/SLEEP.1230Sateia MJ, Buysse DJ, Krystal AD, Neubauer DN, Heald JL.Clinical practice guideline for the pharmacologic treatment of chronic insomnia in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2): 307–349. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6470American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia.Lallukka T, Sares-Jäske L, Kronholm E, Sääksjärvi K, Lundqvist A, Partonen T, Rahkonen O, Knekt P.Sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences in sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms in Finnish adults.BMC Public Health. 2012;12:565. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-565
26 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Sleep disorders.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Insomnia.American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia awareness day facts and stats.Sateia MJ.International Classification of Sleep Disorders—third edition: highlights and modifications.Chest. 2014;146(5):1387-1394. doi:10.1378/chest.14-0970National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What is insomnia?.Krystal AD, Ashbrook LH, Prather AA.What is insomnia?.JAMA. 2021;326(23):2444. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.19283American Academy of Family Physicians.Insomnia.American Psychiatric Association.Insomnia disorder.AAPC.ICD-10-CM code for Insomnia due to medical condition G47.01.Ellis JG, Perlis ML, Neale LF, Espie CA, Bastien CH.The natural history of insomnia: focus on prevalence and incidence of acute insomnia.J Psychiatr Res.2012;46(10): 1278-1285. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.07.001Bhaskar S, Hemavathy D, Prasad S.Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities.J Family Med Prim Care. 2016;5(4):780-784. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.201153.Morin CM, Bjorvatn B, Chung F, et al.Insomnia, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international collaborative study.Sleep Med. 2021;87:38-45. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2021.07.035Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine.Risk factors for insomnia.Jehan S, Myers AK, Zizi F, et al.Sleep health disparity: the putative role of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.Sleep Med Disord. 2018;2(5):127-133.American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Minority health and sleep.Chen X, Wang R, Zee P, et al.Racial/ethnic differences in sleep disturbances: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).Sleep. 2015;38(6):877-888. doi:10.5665/sleep.4732Nguyen V, George T, Brewster GS.Insomnia in older adults.Curr Geriatr Rep. 2019;8(4):271-290. doi:10.1007/s13670-019-00300-xDepartment of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health.Insomnia.Jehan S, Auguste E, Hussain M, Pandi-Perumal SR, Brzezinski A, Gupta R, Attarian H, Jean-Louis G, McFarlane SI.Sleep and Premenstrual Syndrome.J Sleep Med Disord. 2016;3(5):1061.Nowakowski S, Meers J, Heimbach E.Sleep and women’s health.Sleep Med Res. 2013;4(1):1-22. doi:10.17241/smr.2013.4.1.1.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Insomnia: causes and risk factors.Calhoun SL, Fernandez-Mendoza J, Vgontzas AN, Liao D, Bixler EO.Prevalence of insomnia symptoms in a general population sample of young children and preadolescents: gender effects.Sleep Med. 2014;15(1):91-95. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2013.08.787Kessler RC, Berglund PA, Coulouvrat C, at al.Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America Insomnia Survey.Sleep. 2011;34(9):1161-71. doi: 10.5665/SLEEP.1230Sateia MJ, Buysse DJ, Krystal AD, Neubauer DN, Heald JL.Clinical practice guideline for the pharmacologic treatment of chronic insomnia in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2): 307–349. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6470American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia.Lallukka T, Sares-Jäske L, Kronholm E, Sääksjärvi K, Lundqvist A, Partonen T, Rahkonen O, Knekt P.Sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences in sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms in Finnish adults.BMC Public Health. 2012;12:565. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-565
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Sleep disorders.National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Insomnia.American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia awareness day facts and stats.Sateia MJ.International Classification of Sleep Disorders—third edition: highlights and modifications.Chest. 2014;146(5):1387-1394. doi:10.1378/chest.14-0970National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What is insomnia?.Krystal AD, Ashbrook LH, Prather AA.What is insomnia?.JAMA. 2021;326(23):2444. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.19283American Academy of Family Physicians.Insomnia.American Psychiatric Association.Insomnia disorder.AAPC.ICD-10-CM code for Insomnia due to medical condition G47.01.Ellis JG, Perlis ML, Neale LF, Espie CA, Bastien CH.The natural history of insomnia: focus on prevalence and incidence of acute insomnia.J Psychiatr Res.2012;46(10): 1278-1285. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.07.001Bhaskar S, Hemavathy D, Prasad S.Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities.J Family Med Prim Care. 2016;5(4):780-784. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.201153.Morin CM, Bjorvatn B, Chung F, et al.Insomnia, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international collaborative study.Sleep Med. 2021;87:38-45. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2021.07.035Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine.Risk factors for insomnia.Jehan S, Myers AK, Zizi F, et al.Sleep health disparity: the putative role of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.Sleep Med Disord. 2018;2(5):127-133.American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Minority health and sleep.Chen X, Wang R, Zee P, et al.Racial/ethnic differences in sleep disturbances: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).Sleep. 2015;38(6):877-888. doi:10.5665/sleep.4732Nguyen V, George T, Brewster GS.Insomnia in older adults.Curr Geriatr Rep. 2019;8(4):271-290. doi:10.1007/s13670-019-00300-xDepartment of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health.Insomnia.Jehan S, Auguste E, Hussain M, Pandi-Perumal SR, Brzezinski A, Gupta R, Attarian H, Jean-Louis G, McFarlane SI.Sleep and Premenstrual Syndrome.J Sleep Med Disord. 2016;3(5):1061.Nowakowski S, Meers J, Heimbach E.Sleep and women’s health.Sleep Med Res. 2013;4(1):1-22. doi:10.17241/smr.2013.4.1.1.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Insomnia: causes and risk factors.Calhoun SL, Fernandez-Mendoza J, Vgontzas AN, Liao D, Bixler EO.Prevalence of insomnia symptoms in a general population sample of young children and preadolescents: gender effects.Sleep Med. 2014;15(1):91-95. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2013.08.787Kessler RC, Berglund PA, Coulouvrat C, at al.Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America Insomnia Survey.Sleep. 2011;34(9):1161-71. doi: 10.5665/SLEEP.1230Sateia MJ, Buysse DJ, Krystal AD, Neubauer DN, Heald JL.Clinical practice guideline for the pharmacologic treatment of chronic insomnia in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2): 307–349. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6470American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia.Lallukka T, Sares-Jäske L, Kronholm E, Sääksjärvi K, Lundqvist A, Partonen T, Rahkonen O, Knekt P.Sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences in sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms in Finnish adults.BMC Public Health. 2012;12:565. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-565
National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Sleep disorders.
National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Insomnia.
American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia awareness day facts and stats.
Sateia MJ.International Classification of Sleep Disorders—third edition: highlights and modifications.Chest. 2014;146(5):1387-1394. doi:10.1378/chest.14-0970
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.What is insomnia?.
Krystal AD, Ashbrook LH, Prather AA.What is insomnia?.JAMA. 2021;326(23):2444. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.19283
American Academy of Family Physicians.Insomnia.
American Psychiatric Association.Insomnia disorder.
AAPC.ICD-10-CM code for Insomnia due to medical condition G47.01.
Ellis JG, Perlis ML, Neale LF, Espie CA, Bastien CH.The natural history of insomnia: focus on prevalence and incidence of acute insomnia.J Psychiatr Res.2012;46(10): 1278-1285. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.07.001
Bhaskar S, Hemavathy D, Prasad S.Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities.J Family Med Prim Care. 2016;5(4):780-784. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.201153.
Morin CM, Bjorvatn B, Chung F, et al.Insomnia, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international collaborative study.Sleep Med. 2021;87:38-45. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2021.07.035
Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine.Risk factors for insomnia.
Jehan S, Myers AK, Zizi F, et al.Sleep health disparity: the putative role of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.Sleep Med Disord. 2018;2(5):127-133.
American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Minority health and sleep.
Chen X, Wang R, Zee P, et al.Racial/ethnic differences in sleep disturbances: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).Sleep. 2015;38(6):877-888. doi:10.5665/sleep.4732
Nguyen V, George T, Brewster GS.Insomnia in older adults.Curr Geriatr Rep. 2019;8(4):271-290. doi:10.1007/s13670-019-00300-x
Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health.Insomnia.
Jehan S, Auguste E, Hussain M, Pandi-Perumal SR, Brzezinski A, Gupta R, Attarian H, Jean-Louis G, McFarlane SI.Sleep and Premenstrual Syndrome.J Sleep Med Disord. 2016;3(5):1061.
Nowakowski S, Meers J, Heimbach E.Sleep and women’s health.Sleep Med Res. 2013;4(1):1-22. doi:10.17241/smr.2013.4.1.1.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Insomnia: causes and risk factors.
Calhoun SL, Fernandez-Mendoza J, Vgontzas AN, Liao D, Bixler EO.Prevalence of insomnia symptoms in a general population sample of young children and preadolescents: gender effects.Sleep Med. 2014;15(1):91-95. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2013.08.787
Kessler RC, Berglund PA, Coulouvrat C, at al.Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America Insomnia Survey.Sleep. 2011;34(9):1161-71. doi: 10.5665/SLEEP.1230
Sateia MJ, Buysse DJ, Krystal AD, Neubauer DN, Heald JL.Clinical practice guideline for the pharmacologic treatment of chronic insomnia in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2): 307–349. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6470
American Academy of Sleep Medicine.Insomnia.
Lallukka T, Sares-Jäske L, Kronholm E, Sääksjärvi K, Lundqvist A, Partonen T, Rahkonen O, Knekt P.Sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences in sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms in Finnish adults.BMC Public Health. 2012;12:565. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-565
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