The Journal for Nurse Practitioners
Volume 2, Issue 9 , Pages S612-S620, October 2006

Insomnia Classifications: Are They Clinically Useful?

  • Jack D. Edinger

      Affiliations

    • Jack D. Edinger, PhD, is a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Medical Psychology at Duke University Medical Center. He is also an active clinician within the University's Sleep Disorders Center and he serves as the senior psychologist for the VA Medical Center in Durham, NC. Dr. Edinger is board certified by the AASM Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine. A member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Psychological Association, Dr. Edinger recently served on the AASM ICSD Revision Committee and the AASM Behavioral Sleep Medicine Committee and currently is serving on the board of the American Insomnia Association. He previously was chairman of the American Sleep Disorders Association Nosology Committee and served as chairman of the Psychology Training Committee of the Durham VA Medical Center. He also recieved grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, Helicor, Inc., and Respironics and serves on the advisery board for Sleepwell, Inc.
    • ,
  • Dana R. Epstein

      Affiliations

    • Dana R. Epstein, PhD, RN, is the associate chief nurse for research at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz. She has been involved in the clinical and research treatment of insomnia since 1987. Dr. Epstein has received funding for her research on the cognitive-behavioral treatment of insomnia from the National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Cancer Institute.

Abstract 

Insomnia is caused by a variety of physiologic, emotional, environmental, or behavioral conditions. As such, patients with insomnia complaints represent a heterogeneous group. A diagnostic classification system that appropriately and reliably assists in distinguishing or differentiating insomnia subtypes is vital because treatment decisions are largely determined by the eventual insomnia diagnosis assigned. This article reviews the evolution of insomnia classification systems and briefly describes those in current use. Subsequently, these classification systems are evaluated by considering their reliability, validity, and utility in clinical applications. In addition, limitations of the existing insomnia nosologies are discussed, and methods for countering these limitations are considered.

Keywords:  Insomnia classification , insomnia diagnosis , reliability , validity

 

 The authors received compensation from Sepracor Inc for the services they provided in support of the development of this manuscript.

PII: S1555-4155(06)00576-9

doi:10.1016/j.nurpra.2006.08.002

The Journal for Nurse Practitioners
Volume 2, Issue 9 , Pages S612-S620, October 2006

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