WASHINGTON, DC—Many people say they are not getting enough sleep, a CDC study found. A study published in CDC’s Oct 30th Morbidity and Mortality Report found that 11.1% of respondents said that there was not a single day in the previous month where they got enough sleep.

The data was derived from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, which is a national telephone survey that included 403,981 respondents. An insufficient rest or sleep question was included on the 2008 BRFSS core questionnaire in response to an Institute of Medicine recommendation that CDC expand surveillance of population sleep patterns.

In all, 30.7% of adults in the national survey reported no days of insufficient rest or sleep, 41.3% reported 1 to 13 days of insufficient rest or sleep, and 16.8% reported 14 to 29 days.

Among those who reported insufficient sleep or rest, females (12.4%) were more likely than males (9.9%) to report it as a problem. Non-Hispanic blacks (13.3%) were more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to report insufficient rest or sleep.

Insufficient Sleep

The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults need 7 to 9 hours of a sleep each day. Lela R McKnight-Eily, PhD, the lead study researcher, told U.S. Medicine that while it may not be “uncommon” to have a few bad nights of rest in a given month, the impact of this can be detrimental. Insufficient sleep is responsible for many motor vehicle and machinery-related accidents, according to the CDC.

Chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders are also associated with health problems. Research, for example, has found that insufficient sleep is linked to an increased risk for the development of type 2 diabetes. “Chronic sleep loss and sleeping disorders themselves are associated with any number of physical and mental health problems, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and high cholesterol and mortality,” said Dr McKnight-Eily.

The study recommends that health-care providers should consider adding an assessment of chronic rest or sleep insufficiency to routine office visits so they can make any needed interventions or referrals to sleep specialists. “We want health care providers to emphasize to their patients that sleep is an important component of health,” said Dr McKnight-Eily. “We know that if primary care physicians are at least assessing for this, they can do something about it.”

This was also the first CDC study to include state estimates of insufficient rest or sleep. West Virginia topped the list with 19.3% of state respondents reporting that they had insufficient sleep for the entire month.

Data on insufficient sleep or rest helps the CDC to monitor trends of insufficient rest or sleep over time. Doctor McKnight-Eily said that Congress has charged the CDC with increasing public awareness of the importance of getting enough sleep.

CDC has also collaborated with the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) to create the National Sleep Awareness Roundtable (NSART), a program of the NSF. NSART is a national coalition of governmental, professional, voluntary, and other organizations whose mission is to raise awareness about, increase the understanding of, and reduce the public health and safety impact of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders.

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