Lack of Sleep Affecting Americans

March 29, 2005

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A National Sleep Foundation poll finds sleep problems in the United States are widespread with serious consequences, but these problems are often ignored.

The poll shows 75 percent of adults have a symptom of a sleep problem, such as waking often throughout the night or snoring. However, few people actually believe they have a sleep problem and ignore these clues. Only about half of respondents are able to say on most nights, "I had a good night's sleep."

This lack of sleep causes disruptions in nearly every facet of a person's life:

	Sixty percent of licensed adult drivers say they have driven drowsy in the past year, and 4 percent of them have had an accident or near-accident because of sleepiness or actually dozed off while driving.
	Sleep-related issues are cited as the most common reason people are late to work. Almost one-third of adults say they have missed work, events/activities or made errors at work in the past three months because of sleep issues.
	For partnered adults, one or both of them are often too sleepy for sex.
	Many couples sleep apart because of a sleep problem, and a partner's sleep problem can cause the other to lose an average of one hour of sleep a night.

Adults averaged 6.9 hours of sleep each night. The recommended range is seven to nine hours a night. The National Sleep Foundation urges Americans to learn to recognize symptoms of sleep problems and have them treated as well as pay attention to the quality and quantity of sleep.

SOURCE: The 2005 Sleep in America poll conducted for the National Sleep Foundation by WB&A Market Research

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