Has Adult Sleep Duration Declined over the Last 50+ Years?

Overview

Journal Sleep Med Rev

Date 2015 Oct 20

PMID 26478985

Citations 36

Authors

Shawn D Youngstedt

Eric E Goff

Alexandria M Reynolds

Daniel F Kripke

Michael R Irwin

Richard R Bootzin

Nidha Khan

Girardin Jean-Louis

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The common assumption that population sleep duration has declined in the past few decades has not been supported by recent reviews, which have been limited to self-reported data. The aim of this review was to assess whether there has been a reduction in objectively recorded sleep duration over the last 50+ years. The literature was searched for studies published from 1960 to 2013, which assessed objective sleep duration (total sleep time (TST)) in healthy normal-sleeping adults. The search found 168 studies that met inclusion criteria, with 257 data points representing 6052 individuals ages 18-88 y. Data were assessed by comparing the regression lines of age vs. TST in studies conducted between 1960 and 1989 vs. 1990-2013. Weighted regression analyses assessed the association of year of study with age-adjusted TST across all data points. Regression analyses also assessed the association of year of study with TST separately for 10-y age categories (e.g., ages 18-27 y), and separately for polysomnographic and actigraphic data, and for studies involving a fixed sleep schedule and participants' customary sleep schedules. Analyses revealed no significant association of sleep duration with study year. The results are consistent with recent reviews of subjective data, which have challenged the notion of a modern epidemic of insufficient sleep.

Citing Articles

The Effects of Experimental Sleep Extension in Middle-to-Older-Aged Healthy Sleepers.

Reynolds A, Seymour Z, Iftikhar I, Burnette M, Vendemia J, Youngstedt S Sleep Sci. 2024; 17(4):e357-e369.

PMID: 39698175 PMC: 11651830. DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1782525.

Increasing Annual Cancer Incidence in Patients Age 20-49 Years: A Real-Data Study.

Ribelles N, Pascual J, Galvez-Carvajal L, Ruiz-Medina S, Garcia-Corbacho J, Benitez J JCO Glob Oncol. 2024; 10:e2300363.

PMID: 38513186 PMC: 10965217. DOI: 10.1200/GO.23.00363.

Sleep-wake patterns and disturbances in Portuguese primary school children: a comparison between 1995 and 2016.

Clara M, Clemente V, Abrantes J, Marques D, Azevedo M, Allen Gomes A Sleep Biol Rhythms. 2024; 20(4):541-549.

PMID: 38468612 PMC: 10900031. DOI: 10.1007/s41105-022-00400-w.

Association between Self-reported Sleep Quality and Single-task Gait in Young Adults: A Study Using Machine Learning.

Martin J, Huang H, Johnson R, Yu L, Jansen E, Martin R Sleep Sci. 2024; 16(4):e399-e407.

PMID: 38197030 PMC: 10773524. DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1776748.

Trends in sleep duration in the U.S. from 2004 to 2018: A decomposition analysis.

Xu J, Luo L, Gamaldo A, Verdery A, Hardy M, Buxton O SSM Popul Health. 2023; 25:101562.

PMID: 38077245 PMC: 10698270. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101562.

References

Rosipal R, Lewandowski A, Dorffner G . In search of objective components for sleep quality indexing in normal sleep. Biol Psychol. 2013; 94(1):210-20. PMC: 3749381. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.05.014. View

Edinger J, Glenn D, Bastian L, MARSH G, Daile D, Hope T . Sleep in the laboratory and sleep at home II: comparisons of middle-aged insomnia sufferers and normal sleepers. Sleep. 2001; 24(7):761-70. DOI: 10.1093/sleep/24.7.761. View

Wulff K, Dijk D, Middleton B, Foster R, Joyce E . Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption in schizophrenia. Br J Psychiatry. 2011; 200(4):308-16. PMC: 3317037. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.111.096321. View

Ferri R, Bruni O, Fulda S, Zucconi M, Plazzi G . A quantitative analysis of the submentalis muscle electromyographic amplitude during rapid eye movement sleep across the lifespan. J Sleep Res. 2011; 21(3):257-63. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2011.00958.x. View

Jean-Louis G, Kripke D, MASON W, Elliott J, Youngstedt S . Sleep estimation from wrist movement quantified by different actigraphic modalities. J Neurosci Methods. 2001; 105(2):185-91. DOI: 10.1016/s0165-0270(00)00364-2. View

Anderson C, Horne J . Do we really want more sleep? A population-based study evaluating the strength of desire for more sleep. Sleep Med. 2007; 9(2):184-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2007.02.006. View

Youngstedt S, Kripke D . Long sleep and mortality: rationale for sleep restriction. Sleep Med Rev. 2004; 8(3):159-74. DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2003.10.002. View

Philipson L, Risberg A, INGVAR D . Normal sleep pattern analyzed statistically and studied by color "dormograms". Sleep. 1980; 2(4):437-51. DOI: 10.1093/sleep/2.4.437. View

Kupfer D, Sewitch D, Epstein L, Bulik C, McGowen C, Robertson R . Exercise and subsequent sleep in male runners: failure to support the slow wave sleep-mood-exercise hypothesis. Neuropsychobiology. 1985; 14(1):5-12. DOI: 10.1159/000118193. View

10.

Carrier J, Fernandez-Bolanos M, Robillard R, Dumont M, Paquet J, Selmaoui B . Effects of caffeine are more marked on daytime recovery sleep than on nocturnal sleep. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2006; 32(4):964-72. DOI: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301198. View

11.

Marzano C, Ferrara M, Curcio G, De Gennaro L . The effects of sleep deprivation in humans: topographical electroencephalogram changes in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep versus REM sleep. J Sleep Res. 2009; 19(2):260-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2009.00776.x. View

12.

Carrier , DUMONT . Sleep propensity and sleep architecture after bright light exposure at three different times of day. J Sleep Res. 1995; 4(4):202-211. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.1995.tb00171.x. View

13.

Bonnet M, Arand D . Caffeine use as a model of acute and chronic insomnia. Sleep. 1992; 15(6):526-36. View

14.

Danker-Hopfe H, Dorn H, Bahr A, Anderer P, Sauter C . Effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones (GSM 900 and WCDMA/UMTS) on the macrostructure of sleep. J Sleep Res. 2010; 20(1 Pt 1):73-81. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2010.00850.x. View

15.

Landolt H, Roth C, Dijk D, Borbely A . Late-afternoon ethanol intake affects nocturnal sleep and the sleep EEG in middle-aged men. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1996; 16(6):428-36. DOI: 10.1097/00004714-199612000-00004. View

16.

Bianchi M, Wang W, Klerman E . Sleep misperception in healthy adults: implications for insomnia diagnosis. J Clin Sleep Med. 2012; 8(5):547-54. PMC: 3459201. DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.2154. View

17.

Irwin M, Olmstead R, Carroll J . Sleep Disturbance, Sleep Duration, and Inflammation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies and Experimental Sleep Deprivation. Biol Psychiatry. 2015; 80(1):40-52. PMC: 4666828. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.014. View

18.

Gillberg , Akerstedt . Sleep restriction and SWS-suppression: effects on daytime alertness and night-time recovery. J Sleep Res. 1994; 3(3):144-151. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.1994.tb00121.x. View

19.

Knutson K . Sleep duration, quality, and timing and their associations with age in a community without electricity in Haiti. Am J Hum Biol. 2013; 26(1):80-6. PMC: 8663920. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22481. View

20.

Saxvig I, Wilhelmsen-Langeland A, Pallesen S, Vedaa O, Nordhus I, Sorensen E . Objective measures of sleep and dim light melatonin onset in adolescents and young adults with delayed sleep phase disorder compared to healthy controls. J Sleep Res. 2013; 22(4):365-72. DOI: 10.1111/jsr.12030. View