Abstract
Objectives
Insufficient sleep has become recognized as a pervasive problem in modern society.
Sleep debt is a novel measure of sleep adequacy that may be useful in describing those
at risk for inadequate sleep. Our objective was to investigate factors that may be
associated with sleep debt at the population level, as well as build upon previous
data that showed that minority groups may be more likely to have sleep debt.
Design
A cross-sectional population phone survey included questions regarding amount of sleep
required and amount of sleep achieved. Sleep debt was calculated by subtracting sleep
achieved from sleep required.
Setting
This study was designed by the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation and conducted
over landlines and cell phones.
Participants
The Random Digit Dialing method was used to randomly choose 8,752 adults older than
18 years from several counties in and around Philadelphia to answer questions about
sleep.
Measurements
Logistic regression was performed to test associations between sleep debt and various
sociodemographic factors in different population subgroups to identify those at risk
for sub-optimal sleep duration.
Results
Sleep debt was seen to decrease with age, a novel finding that is in contrast with
literature suggesting that older adults have poor sleep. Greater sleep debt was also
associated with female gender, Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, <40 years of age, self-reported
poor health, and increased stress.
Conclusions
Although older adults may sleep less as they age, they may also require less sleep
to feel rested, resulting in less sleep debt. This and other demographic factors,
such as female gender and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, can be used to identify those
at higher risk of inadequate sleep and potentially manage their sleep debt.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 28, 2018
Accepted:
May 29,
2018
Received in revised form:
May 15,
2018
Received:
February 14,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
