How Are You Sleeping?

With most of the United States experiencing high temperatures the past few weeks, it is clear that summer is here. As you may know, June 21, 2022 marked the summer solstice—the official start of summer. This day provided the longest amount of daylight for those in the Northern Hemisphere.

Mattingly and colleagues (2021) reported an association between increased amounts of daylight and reductions in sleep time. These same investigators also noted shifts in bedtime and wake time to later times as temperatures increased. 

Speaking of sleep, the National Center for Health Statistics recently released a report related to sleep difficulties in adults using data from the National Health Interview Survey completed in 2020. A person was considered to have sleep difficulties if they reported “trouble” falling asleep or staying asleep “most days” or “every day” during the 30 days prior to the interview.

Using this data, Adjaye-Gbewonyo and colleagues (2022) estimated that 14.5 percent of adults in the United States had difficulties falling asleep in 2020, while a slightly larger percentage (17.8 percent) had difficulties staying asleep. These authors also reported their findings regarding sleep difficulties as it pertains to age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, and place of residence.

References

Adjaye-Gbewonyo D, Ng AE, Black LI. (2022) Sleep difficulties in adults: United States, 2020. NCHS Data Brief, no 436. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/ cdc:117490. 

Mattingly S, Grover T, Martinez, G, Aledavood T, Robles-Granda P, Nikes K, Striegel A, Mark G. (2021) The effects of seasons and weather on sleep patterns measured through longitudinal multimodal sensing. NPJ Digit Med 4(1):76. DOI: https://do.doi.org/10.1038/s41746-021-00435-2.