Sex-Specific Disparities in Sleep Duration: Impact of Children on Parents - A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: Insufficient sleep or rest is a risk factors for cognitive impairment, reduced quality of life, mood disorders and impaired ability to fight infection. Objectives: To examine and compare socio-demographic correlates of short sleep duration and insufficient rest among men and women, using a large, nationally-representative sample.

Methods: A cross-sectional examination was conducted using 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data (a nationwide telephone-administered survey). Multivariable linear and logistic regressions, incorporating survey weights, were used to estimate the sex-specific association of socio-demographic characteristics with sleep duration and frequency of feeling unrested.

Results: Among men (N=2,897), longer sleep duration was associated with higher education (p=0.0002) and snoring (p=0.02); among women (N=2,908), having children was inversely associated with sleep duration (p=0.002), while being unemployed (p=0.009) and having a higher household income (p=0.03) were associated with longer duration. Among women aged ≤45 years, the only variable associated with insufficient sleep duration was having children in the household, with each child increasing the odds by nearly 50% (95% CI=1.14, 1.87), an association absent among men (95% CI=0.62-1.43)

Conclusions: Factors associated with insufficient sleep and feeling unrested differed by sex, with children adversely affecting women’s sleep duration, particularly among those 45 years of age or younger.