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Sara Sarrafi Zadeh and Khyrunnisa Begum of the University of Mysore in India say insomnia affects information technology workers' physical and mental health and, if left untreated, poor sleep has been associated with severe depression and coronary heart disease. The researchers suggest insomnia is underestimated and deserves greater recognition and attention.

The study, published online in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, indicates more than half of the software engineers studied had insomnia. Thirty-five percent had mild insomnia and 21 percent had severe insomnia.

The researches linked poor sleep to job-related stress and said younger engineers were more likely than their older counterparts to be insomniacs.

"In view of the serious health consequences of insomnia in software engineers who are at high risk, suitable awareness programs should be developed as a preventative measure", the study authors say in a statement.

The researchers advised sleep assessment as part of routine medical check-ups so the problem is caught in the early stages.

Zadeh, Begum and colleagues studied of 91 software engineers -- ages 21-45 -- who were asked to complete two questionnaires.

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