Nadorff Michael R, Nadorff Danielle K, Germain Anne
Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
J Clin Sleep Med. 2015 Jul 15;11(7):747-50. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.4850.
Nightmares are a robust and modifiable predictor of increased suicidality and poor psychiatric outcomes, yet nightmare screening and treatment remain rare, even in sleep centers. This paper aims to examine what proportion of nightmare sufferers have discussed nightmares with a healthcare provider, as well as possible explanations for low rates of nightmare complaints.
The present study utilized a large United States community sample recruited through mTurk and a student sample recruited from a large public university in the Southeast United States. In Study 1, participants (n = 809) were asked whether they had discussed nightmares with a healthcare provider. In Study 2 participants (n = 747) were asked whether they believed nightmares were treatable in addition to whether or not they had discussed nightmares with a healthcare provider.
Of the participants in Study 1 experiencing clinically significant nightmare symptoms only 37.8% of participants reported discussing their nightmares with a healthcare professional. In Study 2 only 11.1% of participants with significant nightmares reporting having told a healthcare provider about their nightmares. Further, of these individuals with clinically significant nightmare symptoms, less than one-third believed that nightmares were treatable. Higher nightmare severity was associated with a greater likelihood of reporting nightmares to a healthcare physician as well as with lower beliefs that nightmares are treatable.
Our findings suggest that nightmares are rarely reported to healthcare providers, which may explain the underutilization of nightmare treatments. Given the poor outcomes associated with nightmares, nightmare screening is warranted.
噩梦是自杀倾向增加和不良精神科预后的一个有力且可改变的预测因素，但即使在睡眠中心，噩梦筛查和治疗也仍然很少见。本文旨在研究有多少比例的噩梦患者曾与医疗服务提供者讨论过噩梦，以及噩梦投诉率低的可能原因。
本研究使用了通过mTurk招募的美国大型社区样本以及从美国东南部一所大型公立大学招募的学生样本。在研究1中，参与者（n = 809）被问及是否曾与医疗服务提供者讨论过噩梦。在研究2中，参与者（n = 747）除了被问及是否曾与医疗服务提供者讨论过噩梦外，还被问及是否认为噩梦是可治疗的。
在研究1中，有临床显著噩梦症状的参与者中，只有37.8%的参与者报告曾与医疗专业人员讨论过他们的噩梦。在研究2中，有显著噩梦的参与者中只有11.1%报告曾告知医疗服务提供者他们的噩梦。此外，在这些有临床显著噩梦症状的个体中，不到三分之一的人认为噩梦是可治疗的。噩梦严重程度越高，向医疗医生报告噩梦的可能性就越大，同时认为噩梦可治疗的信念就越低。
我们的研究结果表明，很少有人向医疗服务提供者报告噩梦，这可能解释了噩梦治疗未得到充分利用的原因。鉴于与噩梦相关的不良后果，进行噩梦筛查是有必要的。
