Impact of Insomnia Symptoms on the Clinical Presentation of Depressive Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Population Study

Abstract

Objective: Insomnia and depression are prevalent disorders that often co-occur. This study aimed to investigate the impact of clinically significant insomnia symptoms on the prevalence and clinical presentation of clinically significant depressive symptoms and vice versa.

Methods: This study used data from the Korean Headache-Sleep Study (KHSS), a nationwide cross-sectional population-based survey regarding headache and sleep. Clinically significant insomnia symptoms were defined as Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores ≥ 10 and clinically significant depressive symptoms were defined as Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores ≥ 10, respectively. We referred clinically significant insomnia symptoms and clinically significant depressive symptoms as insomnia symptoms and depressive symptoms, respectively.

Results: Of 2,695 participants, 290 (10.8%) and 116 (4.3%) were classified as having insomnia and depressive symptoms, respectively. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher among participants with insomnia symptoms than in those without insomnia symptoms (25.9 vs. 1.7%, respectively, P < 0.001). Among participants with depressive symptoms, the PHQ-9 scores were not significantly different between participants with and without insomnia symptoms (P = 0.124). The prevalence of insomnia symptoms was significantly higher among participants with depressive symptoms than in those without depressive symptoms (64.7 vs. 8.3%, respectively, P < 0.001). The ISI scores were significantly higher among participants with insomnia and depressive symptoms than in participants with insomnia symptoms alone (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Participants with depressive symptoms had a higher risk of insomnia symptoms than did those without depressive symptoms. The severity of depressive symptoms did not significantly differ based on insomnia symptoms among participants with depressive symptoms; however, the severity of insomnia symptoms was significantly higher in participants with depressive symptoms than in those without depressive symptoms.