The Sleeping Pill Prescription Rate for Inpatients at a General Hospital

Background and Objective Hospitalized patients often suffer from sleep disturbance. Impaired sleep for inpatients is a multifactorial phenomenon, comprised of medical, environmental, and behavioral influences imposed by hospitalization. In such situation, inpatients are frequently prescribed sleeping pills. The aim of this study was to explore the pattern of sleeping pill prescription for hospitalized patients in a general hospital. Methods Located in Seoul, Korea, Asan Medical Center is a general hospital that oversees about 2100 to 2300 inpatients per day. We estimated the proportion of patients who were prescribed sleeping pills at admission and discharge from the hospital, excluding pediatric care units. In addition, we quantified the number of patients taking prescribed sleeping pills on the first day of each month of 2014. Results Among 118475 patients admitted to Asan Medical Center in 2014, 4205 (3.54%) were taking sleeping pills at the time of admission. In addition, 4652 (3.93%) patients were prescribed sleeping pills as a discharge medication, of which 2256 (1.90%) initiated hypnotics intake during hospital stay. Surveyed on the first day of every month of 2014, 7.3% to 10.0% of inpatients were observed to be taking sleeping pills. Conclusions The number of prescriptions of sleeping pills was found to increase with hospital stay. A palpable need for sleep hygiene education and the implementation of a hypnotics reduction program for inpatients is warranted.