Find it hard to sleep? You're not alone
(China News Agency )
Updated: 2005-12-15 15:20

About 45 per cent of urban citizens have trouble sleeping, according to a report released at China's first clinical training class for sleep disorders.

Based on statistics released by Doctor Pan Jiyang from the Sleep Centre of the China Medical Association in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, the global incidence of insomnia is 25 per cent.

But in China's six largest cities, where competition for jobs is most intense, a random questioning of 10,000 people showed almost half have suffered from differing degrees of insomnia in the past year.

Most patients do not consider the problem to be too serious, with only 5 per cent saying they would consult a doctor.

Among the patients treated at the Sleep Clinic in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, white collar workers and students account for the largest proportion, with successful people of high social status and considerable income being particularly affected.