About a Third of Adults Report Short Sleep, With Persistent Disparities

The sources on this entry are cross-sectional surveillance studies, a systematic review of objective sleep data and a review of multilevel influences, with the prevalence of short sleep, trends over time and disparities as what was measured. Pankowska 2023 reports that 33.2% of US adults reported short sleep duration, with disparities across sociodemographic characteristics and the highest-prevalence counties clustered in the Southeast and Appalachian Mountains. Liu 2016 reports 65.2% of US adults reporting healthy sleep duration, with lower prevalence among non-Hispanic Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and multiracial respondents, and concludes that more than one third report under 7 hours. Khubchandani 2019 reports short sleep prevalence among working adults rising from 30.9% in 2010 to 35.6% in 2018, highest in protective service and military, healthcare support, transport and production occupations. Scott 2023 reports that about 30% of adults averaged sleep outside 7-9 hours and only 15% slept 7-9 hours for at least 5 nights a week. Mireku 2021 reports less than half of the US population aligned with National Sleep Foundation recommendations (45% on weekdays, 33% on weekends), mostly because of a higher proportion of long sleepers. On trends, Ford 2015 reports age-adjusted mean sleep duration decreasing from 7.40 hours in 1985 to 7.18 in 2012, with the share sleeping 6 hours or less rising from 22.3% to 29.2% and little change after 2004. Sheehan 2018 reports short sleep stable from 2004 to 2012 and then rising from 2013 through 2017, more so among Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black adults. Youngstedt 2015 (systematic review of objective sleep data, 168 studies, 6,052 individuals) reports no significant association of sleep duration with study year and concludes that the results challenge the notion of a modern epidemic of insufficient sleep. The self-report analyses and the objective-data review therefore differ on whether sleep duration has declined. On disparities, Nunes 2008 reports Black respondents less likely than white respondents to sleep 7 hours (23% versus 30%) and more likely to have short or long sleep, with Black ethnicity independently associated with extreme sleep duration (OR 1.35). Krueger 2009 reports older age, non-Hispanic Black ethnicity, smoking, low education or income and several health conditions associated with higher odds of both long and short sleep. Chery 2024 (systematic review) reports that societal structures, environmental factors and individual behaviours together influence sleep duration and quality among Black Americans.