Sleep Disorders Account For Billions of Health Care Costs Annually

(Newswire.net — August 26, 2022) Orlando, FL — Today, more and more people struggle from sleep health issues that studies have linked with the increased odds of certain diseases.

A new analysis was carried out and published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

It was carried out by the researchers at Mass Eye and Ear, a member hospital of Mass General Brigham.

It has been found that sleep disorders are linked with significantly higher rates of health care utilization. Conservatively, it led to an additional $94.9 billion in costs each year to the United States health care system, 

The investigators have found that the number of medical visits and prescriptions filled almost  doubled in people with sleep disorders compared to similar people without. Sleep disorders include insomnia and sleep apnea. 

In this research, the investigators tried to determine the diagnostic prevalence of sleep disorders and how costly these conditions were to the health care system. They looked into the differences in health expenditures in similar patients with and without a sleep disorder diagnosis.

Such a diagnosis was determined by their ICD-10 diagnosis code. It also included data from a nationally-representative survey of over 22,000 Americans called the 2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

The survey is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

They revealed that 5.6 percent of respondents had at least one sleep disorder, which translated to an estimated 13.6 million U.S. adults.  It has suggested this likely represented a significant underestimate as insomnia alone has been found to impact 10 to 20 percent of the population. 

“Fortunately, studies have demonstrated that treating certain sleep disorders effectively reduces health care utilization and costs. Therefore, sleep issues should not be ignored. Greater recognition of sleep disorders and an early referral to a sleep specialist are essential,” said Dr. Huyett. “Your sleep is important, and if there’s an issue with your sleep, seek help for it.”

Studies investigating on the factors that influence sleep continue to increase. It is worth noting that many researchers have revealed that there are nutrients helpful for sleep improvement.

B vitamins, in particular, are found by studies to help enhance sleep quality and quantity. These nutrients have been studied on by researchers due to their strong medicinal values. 

Today, formulas like Divine Bounty B Vitamin Complex are widely used by health-conscious consumers. This supplement is made carefully in an FDA-inspected facility and contains Choline, Pantothenic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamin, and vitamin B6 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07414752B).