Research finds racial differences in sleep health

Sleep and health are closely linked

"Over time, sleep deprivation is associated with mortality, cardiovascular disease, and considerable adverse health outcomes," said Dr.

The new study used data from the Multi-Ethnic Atherosclerosis Study (MESA) to compare groups of white, black, Chinese, and Hispanic adults in the United States

"Using tabletop data for more than 1,700 adults, we created a global sleep hygiene measure consisting of a risk score of sleep time (how much do we sleep), sleep time (when we sleep), sleep quality (self and objective measurement of sleep depth-slow Wave sleep), continuity, sleep and sleep apnea," said Susan, MD, MPH, Brigham Department of Sleep and Circadian Disorders

Using sleep measurements, the research team found that white and black adults have the biggest difference in sleep health

"In theory, irregularities can be intervened and resolved

The author points out that sleep is holistic, so there are many factors that contribute to good sleep health

"Our research shows that sleep problems are very common in non-white populations, and it is recommended that clinicians consider screening everyone for sleep problems, because these are intervenable factors that may cause other health differences," Redline said

Although the MESA data is comprehensive, the adults studied are only from six US cities

Redline said: "This study shows that global sleep health can help track and inform health gaps

Chung J et al.