Middle-aged individuals residing in economically deprived regions of the United Kingdom experience lower sleep quality compared to those living in affluent areas, regardless of their personal wealth, according to new research.
In the first large-scale study on sleep across the UK population, psychologists have also found that black individuals report the poorest overall sleep quality.
The researchers published their findings in the journal “Clocks and Sleep,” stating that both social deprivation and ethnicity have an impact on sleep quality, regardless of age, gender, personal wealth, employment, and education.
Professor John Groeger, the lead researcher and head of Sleep Well Science at Nottingham Trent University’s school of social sciences, stated, “It’s not only about individuals’ income, but also about the area they reside in.”
He added, “The implications of these findings are relevant for improved health, educational outcomes, wealth creation, and productivity, as poor sleep negatively affects all of these factors.
“Socially disadvantaged groups experience worse sleep, and this is something we can strive to improve.”
Socially disadvantaged groups experience worse sleep
Prof John Groeger
Consistently inadequate sleep can increase the risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, and can shorten life expectancy.
For this study, which also involved psychologists from the University of Roehampton, the team analyzed data from approximately 500,000 British individuals aged 40 to 69 from the UK Biobank, an online database of medical and lifestyle records.
They investigated various sleep problems such as oversleeping or undersleeping for their respective age groups, nighttime awakenings, early morning awakenings, snoring, daytime sleepiness, and difficulty getting up in the morning.
The results showed that nearly one-third of the participants reported either sleeping shorter (24.7%) or longer (7.7%) than the recommended sleep durations for their age groups.
The researchers also found that white individuals (82.4%) considered it easier to wake up in the morning compared to black (74.4%), Asian (73.5%), or mixed ethnicity individuals (74.2%).
Additionally, individuals residing in economically deprived areas reported greater difficulty in waking up in the morning and were more likely to take daytime naps and experience nighttime awakenings.
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