A Cross-Sectional Study on the Drug Use of Insomnia in a Chinese Medicine Hospital in Shenzhen

Background: The prevalence of insomnia disorder is high among the general poulation and is a risk factor for many diseases. The rationality of drug use for insomnia in Chinese Medicine Hospital was uncertain. In order to evaluate the use of drugs in the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Longgang, Shenzhen, the authors conducted this cross-sectional research. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in Shenzhen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (Long Gang), Guangdong Province. Insomnia patients from January 1, 2016, to November 10, 2020, were included in the cross-sectional study. Patients corresponding to International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ISCD-3) Diagnostic Criteria for short-term and chronic insomnia were included. The authors excluded patients with severe mental disease or nervous system dysfunction or who could not correctly describe their symptoms. The characteristics of insomnia patients, survey results of drug use and symptoms of insomnia patients were collected. The authors analyzed the basic information, condition of drug use, and relationship between symptoms and drug use using R software (version 4.0.2) with the arulesViz package. Results: A total of 9439 patients were included in the study. The average age of these patients was 45.81 years (SD 13.97 years). Anxiety, dreaminess, dizziness, palpitation, headache, thirst, weakness, chest distress, annoyance, abdominal distension, bad moods, difficulty in falling asleep and bitter taste in the mouth were core symptoms of insomnia. The 10 most commonly used drugs ranged from more to less were estazolam (29.99%), Zaoren anshen capsule (15.50%), oryzanol (14.82%), diazepam (14.51%), flupentixol and melitracen (14.30%), alprazolam (8.12%), zolpidem tartrate (5.29%), vitamin B6 (4.76%), sertraline (4.03%), and clonazepam (2.97%). Conclusion: Drugs used for insomnia in the Chinese medicine hospital in Longgang, Shenzhen mainly included benzodiazepines, nonbenzodiazepines, Chinese patent medicines, anti-anxiety drugs, anti-depression drugs, oryzanol, and vitamin B6. The use of oryzanol and vitamin B6 was abused in Chinese medicine hospitals, and the use of Chinese medicine should be evaluated more rigorously. Nonbenzodiazepines should be promoted and more widely understood in the Chinese medicine hospital in Longgang, Shenzhen.