Are sleep patterns influenced by race/ethnicity - a marker of relative advantage or disadvantage? Evidence to date

• Authors: Dayna Johnson, Emory University; Chandra Jackson, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Natasha J. Williams, New York University; Carmela Alcantara, Columbia University
• Journal Title: Nature and Science of Sleep
• Volume: Volume 11
• Publisher: Dove Medical Press Ltd | 2019-01-01, Pages 79-95
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S169312
• Subjects: Biology, Neuroscience
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Clinical Neurology; Neurosciences; Neurosciences & Neurology; sleep; disparities; race/ethnicity; minority; measurement; COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY; SELF-REPORTED SLEEP; RACIAL-DIFFERENCES; UNITED-STATES; RACIAL/ETHNIC DISPARITIES; AFRICAN-AMERICANS; HABITUAL SLEEP; BLOOD-PRESSURE; DURATION; HEALTH

Abstract

Sleep is a fundamental necessity of life. However, sleep health and sleep disorders are not equitably distributed across racial/ethnic groups. In fact, growing research consistently demonstrates that racial/ethnic minorities are more likely to experience, for instance, shorter sleep durations, less deep sleep, inconsistent sleep timing, and lower sleep continuity in comparison to Whites. However, racial/ethnic disparities in reports of sleepiness and sleep complaints are inconsistent. Racial/ethnic groups have significant heterogeneity, yet within-group analyses are limited. Among the few published within-group analyses, there are differences in sleep between non-US-born and US-born racial/ ethnic groups, but the group with the more favorable sleep profile is consistent for non-US-born Latinos compared to US-born Latinos and Whites but unclear for other racial/ethnic minority groups. These sleep health disparities are a significant public health problem that should garner support for more observational, experimental, intervention, and policy/imple-mentation research. In this review, we 1) summarize current evidence related to racial/ethnic disparities in sleep health and within-group differences, focusing on the sleep of the following racial/ethnic minority categories that are defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget as: American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, African American/ Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; 2) discuss measurement challenges related to investigating sleep health disparities; 3) discuss potential contributors to sleep health disparities; 4) present promising interventions to address sleep health disparities; and 5) discuss future research directions on intersectionality and sleep health.