Medicalization and beyond: the social construction of insomnia and snoring in the news

Williams, Simon; Seale, Clive; Boden, Sharon; Lowe, Pam; Steinberg, Deborah Lynn

doi:10.1177/1363459307086846

Cited by 43 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Self-management of sleep is encouraged through the popular press, television, radio and self-help websites, as well as through increasing access to over the counter medications and remedies. We are encouraged to personally engage with ways to improve 4 our sleep, and daytime functioning, by seeking aids for sleep problems (Williams et al, 2008;Harvard Medical School, 2007;National Sleep Foundation, 2011). Advice for coping with poor sleep also comes in the form of recommended 'sleep hygiene', such as avoiding caffeinated drinks and alcohol near to bedtime, and not eating or exercising too late (National Health Service, 2011;National Sleep Foundation, 2011;British Broadcasting Organisation, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kroll-Smith & Gunter (2005: 346) propose there is now a 'new truth' being told about sleepiness, and what was once considered a private, `routinely occurring state of partial consciousness' has become 'linked to public health vernaculars, and transformed into a reprobate condition'. 'Patients', therefore, are now framed as active consumers and 'expert patients' with an accompanying sovereignty of knowledge and expertise gained from websites, the media and through conversations with pharmacists, with a moral obligation to operate under a 'regime of total health' requiring personal observation and maintenance of health (Armstrong, 1993;Conrad & Leiter, 2004;Williams et al, 2008;Busfield, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender differences in approaches to self-management of poor sleep in later life

Venn

Meadows

Arber

2013

Social Science & Medicine

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender differences in approaches to self-management of poor sleep in later life

Venn

Meadows

Arber

2013

Social Science & Medicine

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“…It is possible that adults reported this complaint more accurately because snored had a major psychological impact, due to the disorder's negative social image 26 . In children, it was difficult to distinguish noisy breathing from snoring or to evaluate them separately.…”

Section: Snoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Especially in large cities, insomnia is overlooked or trivialized in its nosological dimension. It is perceived as a symptom of psychological disorder caused by stress and not as a disease in itself 26,28 .…”

Section: Insomniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the population properly informed about sleep disorders?

Camargo

Carvalho

Prado

et al. 2013

Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr.

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Epidemiological studies are unanimous regarding the high prevalence of sleep disorders, although there is a variation in the reported statistics 1,2 . This high prevalence and multiple comorbidities make sleep disorders a significant health issue for both adults and children. Sleep-related diseases are associated with sleep breathing disorders; behavioral, cardiovascular, dental, and learning disabilities; growth deficiency; craniofacial underdevelopment; and excessive daytime sleepiness, which is responsible for the high rates of traffic accidents 3,4 .Despite this epidemiological situation and the many consequences of these disturbances, the general public awareness of sleep disorders is limited. Effective public awareness and education programs should consider the specific characteristics of their target population 5,6 .The word 'complaint' refers to the symptoms reported by patients. From this perspective, we can consider that a patient who can recognize symptoms of possible diseases is more likely to seek early specialist support 7 . ABSTRACT Objective: To measure the prior knowledge about sleep disorders and patient's ability to report their problems adequately to health professionals. Methods: We analyzed 208 patient's records and extracted the following information: date of birth, gender, medical diagnostic hypotheses, patient's primary complaint in their words, considering the most appropriated semantic approximation to the perceptual phenomena, either by their own or by reasoning information from the partner. We compared the agreement (Kappa's test) between patient's complaint and medical diagnosis. The 95% confidence interval was used to analyze proportions. Results: We found strong correlations for bruxism; moderate for snoring, insomnia, nightmares, somniloquy, and restless legs syndrome; fair for excessive movement during sleep (EMDS) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA). Conclusions: The observed correlations were heterogeneous, but important diseases such as OSA and EMDS in children showed fair and weak correlations. This suggests an unsatisfactory knowledge level among the population about these disorders, despite their high prevalence and impact on patient's overall health.Key words: sleep disorders, sleep apnea, obstructive, epidemiology, public health. RESUMOObjetivo: Avaliar o conhecimento da população investigada sobre os distúrbios do sono e sua capacidade de reportá-los adequadamente aos profissionais de saúde. Métodos: Foram analisados 208 prontuários de pacientes, dos quais foram extraídos os seguintes dados: data de nascimento, sexo, hipótese diagnóstica médica e queixa principal do paciente. Foram comparadas as queixas e as hipóteses diagnósti-cas, considerando-se o intervalo de confiança de 95% para as proporções entre estas variáveis, determinando-se sua concordância por meio do teste Kappa. Resultados: Foram encontradas concordâncias acentuadas em relação ao bruxismo; moderadas para ronco, insônia, pesadelos, sonilóquio e síndrome das pernas inquietas; concordância regular pa...

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“…Medicalisation is a non-judgemental term that implies that a condition is given a medical name, whereas disease mongering suggests a deliberate move to frame a condition in a medical framework for the purposes of financial gain (Williams, Seale, Boden, Lowe, & Steinberg, 2008). Disease mongering demonstrates the widening of the boundaries of treatable illness to increase the range of treatable conditions (Moynihan & Henry, 2006) and the escalation of anxiety about future ill-health in healthy individuals (Mintzes, 2006).…”

Section: Disease Mongeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expectations and experiences of midlife intending mothers engaging with Assisted Reproductive Technology

Hayward¹

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The age for optimal women's childbearing, with the best chance of delivering a healthy baby, is generally considered to be when aged in their 20s years. Some researchers propose that fertility declines occurs from 32 years of age. After this age women have a decreasing chance of conception attributed primarily to age-related chromosomal changes in their oocytes. Midlife intending mothers (women aged 35 and older) This research investigates perceptions of women's fertility decline and ART success from a group of women who had used ART, and from men and women in the community who may not have used ART. Women who had used ART and a community cohort were surveyed. Responses from these two groups were analysed separately and compared.Women who had used ART were asked about their experiences at their clinic, and if treatment had social or psychological repercussions. Participants asked about their perceptions of media portrayal of ART success for women aged 35 and older. The concept that ART has become commodified, where commodification is the transformation of services or entities into a commodity, is explored. Those who had used ART suggested recommendations for younger women about childbearing.A mixed-methods approach was utilised. Data were gathered from three cohorts of participants. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from an in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) support group (N = 68) and qualitative data from an interview group of IVF users (N=6) who had engaged with ART treatment either currently or recently. Some had conceived and some were still having treatment. The community group (N= 1243) comprised men and women over 18 years of age who participated in a Queensland-wide telephone survey. Quantitative data gathered from the support group and the community were analysed using SPSS. Qualitative data were explored via thematic analysis.Thematic findings from the interview group supported findings of the support group. Most women knew the benefits and risks of delaying childbearing and made an informed choice ii to use ART. Most were aware that fertility declined from the age of 35, yet this age group is the major consumer of ART. Most women younger than 40 years believed they would get pregnant and have a healthy baby. Only half of the women aged 40 years and older had that confidence. However, this insight may have been gained after using ART. Women found their experience physiologically and psychologically challenging and those who didn't conceive, found making the decision to stop treatment confronting. Some were confused on the published success rates, and expectations elevated from overall rather than age specific pregnancy not birth rates.Support group and interview participants felt delayed childbearing was mainly due to lack of a relationship partner whereas community members believed career or work aspirations. Both he support group and community group agreed that women's fertility declined from the age of 35 years but significantly more community members, and significantly more men th...

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Medicalization and beyond: the social construction of insomnia and snoring in the news

Cited by 43 publications

References 10 publications

Gender differences in approaches to self-management of poor sleep in later life

Gender differences in approaches to self-management of poor sleep in later life

Is the population properly informed about sleep disorders?

Expectations and experiences of midlife intending mothers engaging with Assisted Reproductive Technology

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