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Tue Mar 29, 2005 -
9:37 AM ET
Health - AP
By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Getting a good night’s sleep is hard
for many adults and that often means poorer
health, lower productivity on the job, more danger
on the roads and a less vibrant sex life.
"By 3 to 4 in the afternoon, I’m starting to feel
brain-drained and I need that caffeine to pick me
back up again," said Becky Mcerien, 50, of
Philadelphia.
She gets about 6.5 hours of sleep a night —
slightly less than the adult average of 6.9 hours
reported by the National Sleep Foundation.
Many experts say adults need a minimum of seven to
nine hours of sleep a night.
A poll for the foundation, released Tuesday,
indicates that three-quarters of adults say they
frequently have a sleep problem, such as waking
during the night or snoring.
Most people ignore the problem and few think they
actually have one. Only half of those polled were
able to say they slept well on most nights.
"I get what I need to function," said Guillermo
Sardina, 55, of Hamilton, N.J., who averages six
or seven hours a night. "I sleep through the
night. I'm a sound sleeper. ... I don't even
remember my dreams."
One-fourth of adults say sleep problems have some
impact on their daily lives.
Richard Gelula, the foundation's CEO, said there’s
a link between sleep and quality of life.
"People who sleep well, in general, are happier
and healthier," he said. "But when sleep is poor
or inadequate, people feel tired or fatigued,
their social and intimate relationships suffer,
work productivity is negatively affected, and they
make our roads more dangerous by driving while
sleepy and less alert."
Symptoms of a sleep problem include difficulty
falling asleep, waking a lot during the night,
waking up too early and not being able to get back
to sleep, waking up feeling unrefreshed, snoring,
unpleasant feelings in the legs or pauses in
breathing.
Darwin McCallian, 51, of Burke, Va., wakes up at 4
a.m. so he can get a head start on his work day
and says he sometimes gets drowsy during his
commute into Washington. "When I sleep in a little
bit longer, it makes me a safer driver," said
McCallian, who gets six to eight hours of sleep a
night.
It's not just how much sleep a person gets, but
the quality of sleep that matters, the report
said.
Some of the nation’s sleep habits can be
attributed to an always-on-the-go society, said
Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford
Hospital Sleep Center in Detroit and co-chairman
of the 2005 poll task force.
"In an increasing 24-hour society, people are
staying up much later," he said. "They can go to a
24-hour pharmacy or supermarket. They can do
anything at any time of the night and day. That
can impact on people's decisions to stay up later
watching TV, doing work, being on the Internet."
Mary Cuffee, 64, of Washington, says she stays up
watching TV and has a stressful job. For her,
seven hours of sleep aren't enough. She says she
needs at least 10.
The study found:
- Six in 10 adult motorists said they have driven
while drowsy in the past year; 4 percent reported
that they have had an accident or near-accident
because they were too tired or actually fell
asleep while driving.
- Three-fourths said their partner has a sleep
problem, and the most common is snoring.
- Roughly one-fourth of respondents who have
partners report that their sexual relationship has
been hurt because they have been too sleepy. They
had sex less often or lost interest in having sex
because they were too tired.
- Seven in 10 people said their doctor has never
asked them about their sleep.
The foundation and many sleep experts recommend
avoiding alcohol and caffeine close to bedtime.
The group also recommends that adults pay
attention to how much sleep they get and the
quality of that sleep, and seek help if needed.
The National Sleep Foundation is a nonprofit
organization that lobbies Congress and state
governments on public health and safety issues
surrounding sleep disorders and deprivation,
including drowsy driving and school start times.
It receives its funding from the sleep products
industry, pharmaceutical companies, other
corporate sponsors, physicians, clinics and sleep
centers.
The poll, conducted by WB&A Market Research, used
a random sample of 1,506 adults who were
interviewed over the phone between Sept. 20 and
Nov. 7, 2004. The margin of sampling error is plus
or minus 2.5 percentage points.
Associated Press Writer Kata Kertesz contributed
to this report.
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