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To assess the natural history of insomnia and determine its chronicity, researchers contacted 2001 people, selected at random, by telephone. For the 388 respondents who reported insomnia symptoms, the researchers followed up with mailed questionnaires regarding insomnia symptoms at 1 month and at 1, 2, and 3 years. They tracked findings for two groups of patients: Those with histories of insomnia lasting at least 3 nights per week for at least 1 month and distressing nighttime or daytime symptoms were in the “insomnia syndrome” group; patients meeting only some of these criteria were placed in the “symptoms of insomnia” group.
Insomnia persisted at all follow-up points in about half the patients overall; 66% in the insomnia syndrome group an…