Over 5% of Indians Struggle With Sleep Problems

Over five percent of Indians suffer from sleep problems with women outnumbering men, a new study involving nearly 45,000 people in Asia and Africa reveals.

Researchers at Warwick Medical School observed the sleeping habits of 24,434 women and 19,501 men over 50 years of age. The participants from rural areas in Asian and African countries including Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kenya.

According to the study over 16 percent of those who were observed suffered from insomnia compared to an average of 20 percent in the western world. The study also revealed that a large population of Indians also struggled with sleeping disorders with women outnumbering men at 6.5 percent compared to 4.3 percent.

The researchers estimated that over 150 million people in Asia and Africa could be suffering from some form of sleeping disorders. "Therefore, these estimates suggest that sleep disturbances may represent a significant and unrecognized problem among older people in low-income settings. These findings further emphasize the global dimension of sleep problems as an emerging public health issue", the researchers wrote in their report.

Source: Medindia