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Review
. 2024 Feb 12:3:1322761.
doi: 10.3389/frsle.2024.1322761. eCollection 2024.

Sleep health challenges among women: insomnia across the lifespan

Elizabeth Benge  1 , Milena Pavlova  1 , Sogol Javaheri  1
Affiliations
Review

Sleep health challenges among women: insomnia across the lifespan

Elizabeth Benge et al. Front Sleep. .

Abstract

The presentation of sleep disorders varies widely among women and men, and sleep disorders among women are frequently subject to under- and delayed diagnosis. Insomnia is a complex sleep disorder with a multifactorial etiology, and women face many sex-specific sleep health challenges that may contribute to and influence the presence of insomnia symptoms across their lifespan. These include sex differences in neurobiology, hormonal variation during menstruation, pregnancy and menopause, increased prevalence of mood disorders, increased vulnerability to adverse socioeconomic factors, and gender discrimination, among other psychosocial stressors, particularly among women of racial-ethnic minority. As the medical community continues to recognize the significance of sleep as a vital pillar of overall wellbeing, the integration of sex-specific considerations in research, diagnosis, and treatment strategies is essential to optimizing sleep health for women.

Keywords: gender discrimination; insomnia; menopause; pregnancy; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

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