Insomnia is a highly prevalent complaint, largely associated with mental disease. Clinical evidence classifies insomnia in 2 subtypes: with sleep misperception (WSM) and without sleep misperception (wSM). That presents distinctive pathophysiologic pathways and different public health implications.

Describe the main differences between primary insomnia WSM and wSM regarding:

– clinical features;

– diagnosis;

– management;

– implications.

We conducted a systematic review. PubMed, Embase and PsycInfo were searched from 2000–2016. The reference lists of systematic reviews, narrative synthesis and some important articles were included. Following the inclusion criteria, we selected 25 studies from 59 articles.

The prevalence of sleep-state misperception in primary insomniacs (total sleep time > 6.5 h and sleep efficiency > 85%) is around 26%. Insomniacs with normal sleep duration showed a profile of high depression and anxiety and low ego strength, whereas insomniacs with short sleep duration showed a profile of a medical disorder.

Cortical hyperarousal is higher in insomniacs and could be related to an alteration in sleep protection mechanisms. The sleep architecture was relatively normal for the WSM comparing with the group wSM. Risk of cardiometabolic, neurocognitive morbidity and mortality, and responses to treatment are different between these two insomnia phenotypes. Patients with short sleep duration may respond better to biological treatments, whereas insomnia with normal sleep duration may respond primarily to psychological therapies.

The clinical characteristics of patients with sleep-state misperception differed from those without this condition. Available research related to these conditions is expanding rapidly, but many questions remain unanswered.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.