Dr Sonia Ancoli-Israel:I think it’s important for primary care clinicians to, first of all, ask their patients about sleep. Research has shown that 70% of the clinicians don’t ask their patients about sleep, and more than 50% of the patients don’t talk about it.12 Thus, the first step is to determine the overall sleep-wake status of the patient. If the patient responds that he or she is experiencing sleep problems, then it takes a little more in-depth questioning regarding the specific symptoms of insomnia and their frequency and severity. There are several questionnaires—including the Insomnia Severity Index (Table 2)13and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale—that clinicians can use to facilitate sleep-related discussion with their patients.
Dr