ABOUT ONE in three people feels they have problems sleeping, men reckon they sleep better than women and over-55s tend to be the most content about their night’s slumber, according to a new survey carried out by the Philips Center for Health and Well-being.
Meanwhile, Spain appears to be the soundest-sleeping country – with 75 per cent of those asked reporting good shuteye. Neighbouring France seems to have less restful nights, with only 51 per cent of those surveyed expressing satisfaction with their sleep.
The data, which was gathered from more than 13,000 respondents across 10 countries – but not in Ireland – showed that on average 35 per cent of those asked said they were not getting enough sleep, 60 per cent said they were and 5 per cent did not know.
Common reasons for not sleeping enough included going to sleep late and having to rise early or just “being a poor sleeper overall”, according to Katy Hartley, director of Philips, who presented the results last week in Eindhoven.
While people reported that a lack of sleep could affect their mood, physical and mental health and home life, the survey responses suggested that many of the poor sleepers may have resigned themselves to the situation, according to Ms Hartley.
Women tended to have a “shopping list” of reasons for not sleeping well, which in many cases included worry and being kept awake by snoring partners, she added.
All countries surveyed showed a trend of over-55s reporting improved sleep compared with their younger counterparts. Yet research shows the self-perception among older people may not match reality.
“If you study them, older people clearly sleep less well, their sleep is more fragmented,” said David White, chief medical officer, Philips Home Healthcare, and professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School.
He described sleep as a “complex neurobiological process” and outlined the impacts of not getting enough.
“The optimal is seven to eight hours: less than that and you get deterioration in performance, cognition and health,” he said. “The mood is clearly impacted, cognitive performance deteriorates and there’s a literature evolving suggesting that if you get less than a certain amount of sleep, health deteriorates – meaning hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease [and] weight gain.”
