Poor sleep hygiene is a risk factor for poor sleep quality and chronic insomnia and its improvement is one of the main components in the cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia.

To measure the knowledge on healthy/unhealthy sleep behaviours and the self-reported sleep quality in individuals suspected of chronic insomnia compared to those that report a healthy sleep.

To assess whether knowledge of sleep behaviours is linked with sleep quality.

Adults were recruited via online adverts and invited to fill in a battery of tests consisting in the Romanian translations of the Sleep Condition Indicator, Sleep Disorders Questionnaire and Sleep Beliefs Scale. The survey was hosted on Surveygizmo and analysis was performed with MyStat.

To date, one hundred and sixty one participants enlisted (71% females, N = 115, mean age 38 ± 13). While better sleep knowledge did not mean better sleep quality in individuals suffering from chronic insomnia, those with sound sleep revealed better healthy sleep behaviours awareness, though without reaching the significance level. Sleep knowledge was significantly better in women and did not vary by education or age group.

Better sleep knowledge does not seem to improve the quality of sleep in chronic insomniacs, but does so in those without sleep complaints.