Sleep Around the World
Say "Sleep"
No matter how you say it, sleep is a lovely word!
English: "Sleep"
French: "Sommeil"
Dutch: "Slaap"
German: "Schlaf"
Italian: "Sonno"
Portuguese: "Sono"
Spanish: "Sueño"
One thing all nations and peoples have in common is sleep. But how well do people in different countries sleep? Do people in some countries have more sleep problems than people in other countries? How much time do people spend sleeping in different countries?
An international team of researchers from Greece, Canada and Japan looked for answers to these questions in a large-scale, global cross-sectional survey of 35,327 people in ten countries on International Sleep Well Day (March 21, 2002).1 Questionnaires were given to all study participants (average age 39 years) representing different continents with clear variations in lifestyle. Subjects answered questions about their sleep habits, their quality of sleep and whether they did anything to help them sleep.
About one-third of all the people in the study went to sleep at 11:00 pm and woke up at 6:00 am. The average total time people spent sleeping each day was 454 minutes (7 hours, 34 minutes). People in Japan spent the least time sleeping (an average of 413 minutes, or 6 hours, 53 minutes) and people in Portugal slept the most (an average of 504 minutes, or 8 hours, 24 minutes).
Napping was common in many countries. In Brazil, 42.4% of the people said that they took regular naps. However, in Japan, only 12% of the people took regular naps. Naps lasted about 40-60 minutes in most countries.
Poor sleep affects many people in all countries. Belgium had the highest numbers (32.2%) of people who said that they did not sleep well. Austria (10.4%), Germany (16.2%) and Portugal (16.3%) had the lowest numbers of people who did not sleep well. The symptoms of poor sleep included awakenings at night, poor functioning during the day, sleepiness during the day and a reduced sense of well-being during the day.
Various remedies were used to manage sleep problems. About one-third (30.7%) of all people surveyed said they visited a doctor about their sleep problem. More than half (55.5%) of those with sleep problems in Portugal visited a doctor, but only 8% of the people in Japan said they visited a physician for a sleep problem. Few people in Japan (15.3%) and Austria (9.8) used medication to help sleep, while people in Portugal (45.7%) and South Africa (52.8%) often used sleep medications. Other treatments to improve sleep included:
- Herbal teas (most common in Slovakia)
- Alcohol (most common in Japan)
- Altered tea/coffee consumption (most common in Austria).
Sleep disturbances are a global problem. Although there seem to be important global variations in the prevalence of insomnia, its symptoms and their management, about one in four individuals do not think they sleep well. Moreover, self-reported sleep problems could be underestimated in the general population. Some people may not report sleep problems because they think that sleep disorders are "normal".
Overall, the researchers concluded there is a need for increased awareness of the importance of disturbed sleep and the improved detection and management of sleep disorders.
1 Soldatos, C.R., Allaert, F.A., Ohta, T. and Dikeos, D.G. How do individuals sleep around the world? Results from a single-day survey in ten countries. Sleep Medicine, 6:5-13, 2005.
Source: Washington University of Washington
