Introduction: Amongst various psychiatric disorders in the elderly, insomnia is one of the major challenges. Therefore, the present study was envisaged to assess the prevalence of insomnia and the factors associated with it among the elderly.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural and an urban area of Delhi. We selected 115 participants in each area using systematic random sampling. We used a semi-structured questionnaire to collect the data.

Results: Out of 230 participants, 121 (52.6%) were females and 109 (47.4 %) were males. Out of the 230 participants, 113 (49.1%) had scores of 0-7 whereas 117 (50.9%) had scores between 8-28 which meant they had some degree of insomnia. This was further classified into sub-threshold insomnia (scores of 8-14), clinical insomnia of moderate severity (scores 15-21), and severe clinical insomnia (scores of 22-28). Insomnia was significantly associated with age, sex, and type of family. Insomnia was not found to be significantly associated with socio-economic status (p-value 0.19), the environment in the bedroom of sleep (p-value 0.75), and condition in the bedroom of sleep (p-value 0.54). Moreover, insomnia was significantly associated with the locality of the participants (p-value <0.05). Insomnia was more prevalent in the elderly participants of rural area (95%) while just 5% were in the urban population.

Conclusion: In the present study, around half of the elderly persons were suffering from Insomnia. As the cause of insomnia is multi-factorial, it needs a multi-pronged approach to prevention which can be achieved by creating awareness, management, and prevention. Further, screening elderly persons for insomnia and health education regarding the importance of sleep hygiene practices should be started.

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