(Press-News.org) Boston, Mass. – Sleep disorders are associated with significantly higher rates of health care utilization, conservatively placing an additional $94.9 billion in costs each year to the United States health care system, according to a new study from researchers at Mass Eye and Ear, a member hospital of Mass General Brigham.
In their new analysis, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the researchers found the number of medical visits and prescriptions filled were nearly doubled in people with sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and insomnia, compared to similar people without. Affected patients were also more likely to visit the emergency department and have more comorbid medical conditions.
Costly medical care for sleep disorder patients
The researchers sought out to determine the true diagnostic prevalence of sleep disorders and how expensive these conditions were to the health care system. They examined differences in health expenditures in similar patients with and without a sleep disorder diagnosis, as determined by their ICD-10 diagnosis code. The study included data from a nationally-representative survey of more than 22,000 Americans called the 2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
They found 5.6 percent of respondents had at least one sleep disorder, which translated to an estimated 13.6 million U.S. adults. This likely represents a significant underestimate, according to the authors, as insomnia alone is felt to conservatively affect 10 to 20 percent of the population. These individuals accumulated approximately $7,000 more in overall health care expenses per year compared to those without a sleep disorder – about 60 percent more in annual costs. This equates to a conservative estimate of $94.9 billion in health care costs per year attributable to sleep disorders.
The analysis revealed that patients with sleep disorders attended more than 16 office visits and nearly 40 medication prescriptions per year, compared to nearly 9 visits and 22 prescriptions for those without a sleep disorder. The study did not quantify non-health care related costs, but the authors noted it can be assumed that more doctors’ appointments means more time off from work, school or other social obligations, not to mention decreased productivity associated with symptoms, only exacerbating costs to society.
Sleep disorders raise risk for other conditions
Sleep disorders can take a toll on health and quality of life in numerous ways. Individuals with certain sleep disorders experience decrease daytime functionality related to sleepiness, mental fog and an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, for instance. Obstructive sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders and if untreated, can increase risk for neurocognitive issues, such as difficulty concentrating and mood disorders, as well as cardiovascular conditions including heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms.
Getting a proper diagnosis at the sign of asleep problem can lead to an effective treatment for a sleep disorder.
“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.”
About Mass Eye and Ear
Massachusetts Eye and Ear, founded in 1824, is an international center for treatment and research and a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. A member of Mass General Brigham, Mass Eye and Ear specializes in ophthalmology (eye care) and otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ear, nose and throat care). Mass Eye and Ear clinicians provide care ranging from the routine to the very complex. Also home to the world's largest community of hearing and vision researchers, Mass Eye and Ear scientists are driven by a mission to discover the basic biology underlying conditions affecting the eyes, ears, nose, throat, head and neck and to develop new treatments and cures. In the 2020–2021 “Best Hospitals Survey,” U.S. News & World Report ranked Mass Eye and Ear #4 in the nation for eye care and #6 for ear, nose and throat care. For more information about life-changing care and research at Mass Eye and Ear, visit our blog, Focus, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Sleep disorders tally $94.9 billion in health care costs each year
Patients with conditions like sleep apnea utilize approximately double the amount of doctors' visits and prescriptions and account for 60% more in overall health care costs
2021-05-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Turning a pancreatic cancer cell's addiction into a death sentence
2021-05-07
(Toronto, Friday, May 7, 2021) -- Probing the unique biology of human pancreatic cancer cells in a laboratory has yielded unexpected insights of a weakness that can be used against the cells to kill them.
Led by Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PM) Scientist Dr. Marianne Koritzinsky, researchers showed that about half of patient-derived pancreatic cancer cell lines are highly dependent or "addicted" to the protein peroxiredoxin 4 (PRDX4), as a result of the altered metabolic state of the cancer cell.
This addiction is vital for the cancer cell's survival, thereby also making it a precise, potential target against the cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease with an overall five-year survival of only eight per cent. Moreover, 36% to 46% of patients who undergo surgery with ...
How viruses and bacteria can reach drinking water wells
2021-05-07
Induced bank filtration is a key and well-established approach to provide drinking water supply to populated areas located along rivers or lakes and with limited access to groundwater resources. It is employed in several countries worldwide, with notable examples in Europe, the United States, and parts of Africa. Contamination of surface waters poses a serious threat to attaining drinking water standards. In this context, human pathogenic microorganisms such as some viruses and bacteria, originating from the discharge of wastewater treatment plants, form a major contaminant group. A detailed study at an induced bank filtration site along the Rhine river in Germany has now linked transport of bacteria to seasonal dynamics. Key results of the study show that floods should be ...
Latest peer-reviewed research: Immediate global ivermectin use will end COVID-19 pandemic
2021-05-07
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Peer reviewed by medical experts that included three U.S. government senior scientists and published in the American Journal of Therapeutics, the research is the most comprehensive review of the available data taken from clinical, in vitro, animal, and real-world studies. Led by the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a group of medical and scientific experts reviewed published peer-reviewed studies, manuscripts, expert meta-analyses, and epidemiological analyses of regions with ivermectin distribution efforts all showing that ...
The structure of DNA is found to be actively involved in genome regulation
2021-05-07
The two meters of -stretched- DNA contained in human cells are continuously twisting and untwisting to give access to genetic information: when a gene is expressed to generate a protein, the two strands of DNA are separated to give access to all the machinery necessary for this expression, resulting in an excessive accumulation of coiling that needs to be resolved later. The paper that has now been published by the team led by Felipe Cortés, head of the DNA Topology and Breaks Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), in collaboration with Silvia Jimeno González, professor at the University of Seville ...
New innovation successfully treats neonatal hypothermia
2021-05-07
Neonatal hypothermia -- which occurs when an infant's core body temperature falls below the normal range needed to maintain health -- contributes to approximately one million deaths each year, and countless cases of stunted growth, almost exclusively in low- and middle-income countries. To address this common but preventable condition, researchers from Boston Children's Hospital, engineers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and colleagues in Rwanda developed the Dream Warmer, a low cost, reusable non-electric infant warmer to prevent and treat hypothermia. A new study from the team shows that infants who received treatment with the warmer had only an 11 percent rate of ...
Why hotter clocks are more accurate
2021-05-07
A new experiment shows that the more energy consumed by a clock, the more accurate its timekeeping.
Clocks pervade every aspect of life, from the atomic clocks that underlie satellite navigation to the cellular clocks inside our bodies. All of them consume energy and release heat. A kitchen clock, for example, does this by using up its battery. Generally the most accurate clocks require the most energy, which hints at a fundamental connection between energy consumption and accuracy. This is what an international team of scientists from Lancaster, Oxford, and Vienna set out to test.
To do this, they built a particularly simple clock, consisting of a vibrating ultra-thin membrane, tens of nanometers ...
Skoltech scientists find a way to make pultrusion faster
2021-05-07
A research team from the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM) studied the effects of processing additives - aluminum hydroxide and zinc stearate - on the polymerization kinetics of thermosets used in pultrusion. The research was published in the Journal of Composite Materials.
Fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) structural elements that have obvious advantages over conventional materials, such as steel, wood, and concrete, are widely used in civil, marine and road construction. FRP structures are manufactured using the pultrusion process, in which polymerization is achieved by continuously pulling ...
Damage to white matter is linked to worse cognitive outcomes after brain injury
2021-05-07
A new University of Iowa study challenges the idea that gray matter (the neurons that form the cerebral cortex) is more important than white matter (the myelin covered axons that physically connect neuronal regions) when it comes to cognitive health and function. The findings may help neurologists better predict the long-term effects of strokes and other forms of traumatic brain injury.
"The most unexpected aspect of our findings was that damage to gray matter hubs of the brain that are really interconnected with other regions didn't really tell us much about how poorly people would do on cognitive tests after brain damage. On the other hand, people with damage to the densest white matter connections did much worse on those tests," explains Justin Reber, PhD, ...
Can federated learning save the world?
2021-05-07
Training the artificial intelligence models that underpin web search engines, power smart assistants and enable driverless cars, consumes megawatts of energy and generates worrying carbon dioxide emissions. But new ways of training these models are proven to be greener.
Artificial intelligence models are used increasingly widely in today's world. Many carry out natural language processing tasks - such as language translation, predictive text and email spam filters. They are also used to empower smart assistants such as Siri and Alexa to 'talk' to us, and to operate driverless cars.
But to function ...
Artificial intelligence makes great microscopes better than ever
2021-05-07
To observe the swift neuronal signals in a fish brain, scientists have started to use a technique called light-field microscopy, which makes it possible to image such fast biological processes in 3D. But the images are often lacking in quality, and it takes hours or days for massive amounts of data to be converted into 3D volumes and movies.
Now, EMBL scientists have combined artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms with two cutting-edge microscopy techniques - an advance that shortens the time for image processing from days to mere seconds, while ensuring that the resulting images are crisp and accurate. The findings are published in Nature Methods.
"Ultimately, we were able to take 'the best of both worlds' in this approach," says Nils Wagner, one of the paper's two lead ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Fig trees convert atmospheric CO2 to stone
Intra-arterial tenecteplase for acute stroke after successful endovascular therapy
Study reveals beneficial microbes that can sustain yields in unfertilized fields
Robotic probe quickly measures key properties of new materials
Climate change cuts milk production, even when farmers cool their cows
Frozen, but not sealed: Arctic Ocean remained open to life during ice ages
Some like it cold: Cryorhodopsins
Demystifying gut bacteria with AI
Human wellbeing on a finite planet towards 2100: new study shows humanity at a crossroads
Unlocking the hidden biodiversity of Europe’s villages
Planned hydrogen refuelling stations may lead to millions of euros in yearly losses
Planned C-sections increase the risk of certain childhood cancers
Adults who have survived childhood cancer are at increased risk of severe COVID-19
Drones reveal extreme coral mortality after bleaching
New genetic finding uncovers hidden cause of arsenic resistance in acute promyelocytic leukemia
Native habitats hold the key to the much-loved smashed avocado’s future
Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air
Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction
Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor
How game-play with robots can bring out their human side
Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease
UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery
New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis
XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion
Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors
Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?
Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture
Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy
New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer
Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support
[Press-News.org] Sleep disorders tally $94.9 billion in health care costs each yearPatients with conditions like sleep apnea utilize approximately double the amount of doctors' visits and prescriptions and account for 60% more in overall health care costs