Use of alcohol and hypnotic medication as aids to sleep among the Japanese general population

Objective: The present study was conducted to clarify the prevalence of the use of alcohol and hypnotic medication as sleep aids, and associated factors, in the general population in Japan. Methods: The survey was conducted in June 2000, using self-administered questionnaires, targeting a population that was selected randomly from among 300 communities throughout Japan. A total of 18,205 responses indicating alcohol use and 16,804 responses indicating hypnotic medication use were analyzed. Results: The prevalence of alcohol use as a sleep aid one or more times per week was 48.3% among men and 18.3% among women. The prevalence of the use of hypnotic medication one or more times per week was 4.3% among men and 5.9% among women. The prevalence of alcohol used as a sleep aid increased gradually for men and women up to age 55–59 years and 40–44 years, respectively, and then declined with increasing age thereafter. The prevalence of the use of hypnotic medication among both men and women showed a trend toward a gradual increase with age. The use of alcohol as a sleep aid was associated with “difficulty maintaining sleep,” but no such problem was associated with the use of hypnotic medication. Conclusions: Alcohol is a more popular sleep aid than hypnotic medication. The factors associated with the use of alcohol and of hypnotic medication are different.