Sleep patterns differ among ethnic groups: Poll

Significant differences exist in the sleep habits and attitudes of Asians, Blacks/African-Americans, Hispanics and Whites, revealed the 2010 Sleep in America poll by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF)

It is the first poll to examine sleep among these four ethnic groups. The poll found that more than three-fourths of respondents from each ethnic group agree that poor sleep is associated with health problems (76-83 percent).

The poll also shows that all groups report disturbingly similar experiences missing work or family functions because they were too sleepy (19-24 percent).

Among married people or couples living together, all ethnic groups report being too tired for sex frequently (21- 26 percent of the time).

"As the leading voice of sleep health, we are committed to better understanding people's sleep needs. By exploring ethnic and family sleep practices we have gained new insight into why we sleep the way we do," said Dr. David Cloud, CEO of the National Sleep Foundation.

African-Americans report the busiest bedtime routines.

African-Americans are the most likely to report performing activities in the hour before going to bed every night or almost every night, specifically watching TV (75 percent) and/or praying or doing another religious practice (71 percent).

African-Americans and Hispanics (10 percent each) are ten times more likely to report having sex every night than Asians (1 percent) and 2.5 times more likely than Whites (4 percent).

African-Americans (17 percent) and Asians (16 percent) are more likely than Whites (9 percent) and Hispanics (13 percent) to report doing job-related work in the hour before bed, among those employed.

Blacks/African-Americans report losing sleep every night over personal financial concerns (12 percent) and employment concerns (10 percent) at a higher rate than Whites (6 percent and 7 percent) or Asians (1 percent and 4 percent).

Hispanics are almost equally concerned each night about these two issues (11 percent and 9 percent, respectively).

"The hour before bed is an important time to relax and wind-down before going to sleep. For those who are having problems sleeping, it's a good idea to consider whether your bedtime routines may be too alerting," said Dr. Thomas J. Balkin.

Asians report getting the best sleep, report the least amount of sleep problems and infrequent use of sleep aids.

The poll showed that Asians are more than twice as likely to use the Internet every night in comparison to any other group. They are also the least likely to watch TV an hour before sleep.

African-Americans report getting an average of 34 minutes less sleep on a work night/weeknight than Asians and 38 minutes less than Whites.

Hispanics are the most likely to say they are kept awake by financial, employment, personal relationship and/or health-related concerns.

Whites are the most likely to report sleeping with their pets and/or their significant other/spouse.

Among those married or partnered, Whites are much more likely (14 percent) than the other ethnic groups (2 percent each) to say they usually sleep with a pet.

Among those married or partnered, 90 percent of Whites report that they sleep with their significant other compared to 84 percent of Blacks/African-Americans, 76 percent of Hispanics and 67 percent of Asians.

Interestingly, among all respondents, Whites are the least likely to say they sleep alone. Among those married or partnered respondents with children, Asians (28 percent) and Hispanics (22 percent) are the most likely to report that they sleep in the same room with their children.

Whites report the highest rate of diagnosis for insomnia (10 percent), and African-Americans have the highest rate of diagnosed sleep apnea (14 percent) among the four groups.