Self-reported features of sleep, utilization of medical resources, and socioeconomic position: a Swedish population survey.

This study examined aspects of self reported qualities of sleep and daytime functioning attributed to sleep, including the utilization of physician consultations and prescription medications, and their relationships with age, gender, and educational attainment in the Swedish population using telephone interviews of 1,000 random households. Women were twice as likely to use hypnotics and experienced more poor quality sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Lower educational attainment was associated with twofold increased hypnotic use, life impacts of sleep problems, and EDS, but not dimensions reflecting poor quality sleep. This study demonstrates that educational attainment, gender, and age combine to shape both the attributions of the effects of sleep on wakeful functioning and patterns of using medical resources.