Men's sleep was found to be healthier than women's
An international team of scientists has found out that men's sleep is stronger and more efficient than women's. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, the situation (in the case of men) only gets better with age. Sleep is also influenced by socioeconomic factors, such as income level.
Inadequate sleep is a common problem among adults around the world. Earlier studies found that 40 percent of Canadian residents reported sleeping less than the recommended seven hours, and up to half of the population report interrupted and inefficient sleep.
This carries serious health risks: in particular, poor sleep is fraught with the development of psychological disorders, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, impaired general health, and cognitive decline. Sleep problems are associated with social and economic consequences, including loss of productivity (Canada loses about $21 billion annually).
Not surprisingly, Canadian scientists from Western University, together with colleagues from the Luxembourg Institute of Public Health, Bern (Switzerland) and Maastricht University (the Netherlands), decided to explore this issue further. The authors of the paper, published in the journal Sleep Health, analyzed cross-sectional data from a longitudinal study of aging, conducted among more than 30 thousand Canadians aged 45 to 85 years. They studied a total of 11 categories that define healthy sleep, including its duration, effectiveness from rash, overall satisfaction and so on.
It turned out that 73.2 percent of those surveyed were satisfied with the quality of their sleep, with an average duration of 6.8 hours. However, there were fewer women than men among these participants. Moreover, men's sleep in the older age groups (65 years and above) only improved as they got older. Good sleep performance was also found in people with higher incomes, retired people, and those who owned their own homes (adjusted for lifestyle and clinical health).
"Our discovery challenges the notion that sleep quality declines with age. Perhaps a decrease in workload, psychological pressure from other family members plays a role here," shared the opinion of one of the authors of the study, Doctor of Medicine and Professor Saverio Stranges.
According to another author, Rebecca Rodriguez, socioeconomic factors play a crucial role in improving sleep. The study also found that racial and ethnic differences, especially among blacks, East Asians and Southeast Asians, affected sleep quality. They reported shorter sleep duration compared to white participants.