Abstract: Objective To investigate the sleep status in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in some areas of China. Methods From July 2015 to June 2016, questionnaires were applied to investigate the sleep status of CHC patients in 11 hospitals from northeast, northwest, northern, southwest, central and eastern China. Results A total of 378 valid questionnaires were collected. Insomnia rate in CHC patients reached 71%, including 63% with trouble falling asleep, 55% with trouble staying asleep and 56% with early morning awakening. Among these patients, 53% patients felt insomnia disturbing and 47% thought their life, work and study were affected by insomnia. There were only 14% patients taking sleeping pills. Rates of insomnia in the six areas were significantly different (P<0.01), which was 95.4% in northwest but only 50.0% in northern China. Conclusion Insomnia rate in CHC patients is much higher than that in general population (71% vs. 6%～30%), with most common insomnia type of trouble in falling asleep. Few patients take sleeping pills in spite of the effect that insomnia has on their life, work and study. Moreover, insomnia rate is negatively correlated with income level to a certain extent.

Key words: HCV, Sleep status, Investigation