Elsevier

Sleep Medicine

Volume 18, February 2016, Pages 3-6
Sleep Medicine

Reducing health disparities: the role of sleep deficiency and sleep disorders

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2015.01.007Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Sleep health measures differ by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position.

  • The multilevel etiology of disparities in sleep health is not well understood.

  • Sleep deficiency is associated with conditions burdened by health disparities.

  • Research is needed to elucidate the contribution of sleep to health disparities.

  • Surveillance tools and cohorts are available to study sleep-related disparities.

Abstract

Decrements in sleep health, including insufficient sleep duration, irregular timing of sleep, poor sleep quality, and sleep/circadian disorders, are widespread in modern society and are associated with an array of disease risks and outcomes, including those contributing to health disparities (eg, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, psychiatric illness, and cancer). Recent findings have uncovered racial/ethnic and socioeconomic position differences in sleep health; however, the contribution of sleep deficiency to health disparities remains largely unexplored, and understanding the underlying causes of disparities in sleep health is only beginning to emerge. In 2011, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a workshop, bringing together sleep and health disparities investigators, to identify research gaps and opportunities to advance sleep and health disparities science. This article provides a brief background and rationale for the workshop, and it disseminates the research recommendations and priorities resulting from the working group discussions.

Section snippets

Sleep and health disparities science: emerging opportunities

Eliminating disparities in health by race or ethnicity and socioeconomic position (SEP) remains a fundamental societal challenge. A more complete understanding of the underlying drivers of disparities in health is needed to inform prevention and intervention strategies. The determinants of health disparities include social, environmental, behavioral, and biological factors [1]. Despite abundant research, there is still uncertainty regarding the underlying causes of many health disparities.

Sleep

Workshop design and objectives

A mission of the National Institutes of Health is to identify domains of science where critical gaps in knowledge exist and where strategic planning is needed to help close these gaps. In 2011, the NHLBI convened a workshop entitled, “Reducing Health Disparities: The Role of Sleep Deficiency and Sleep Disorders.” The overarching objective of the workshop was to stimulate cross-disciplinary discussion between sleep and health disparities investigators, to elaborate a research agenda to reduce

Working group research recommendations

  • Advance epidemiology and clinical research to achieve a more complete understanding of disparities in domains of sleep health (ie, prevalence and severity of sleep apnea, habitual sleep duration, sleep timing and regularity, and insomnia complaints) across population subgroups (ie, racial/ethnic, SEP, and gender) for which cardiovascular and metabolic health disparities exist.

  • Develop study designs and analytical approaches to investigate multilevel and life course determinants of sleep health

Conflict of interest

The ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest associated with this article can be viewed by clicking on the following link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2015.01.007.

. ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest form.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the contribution of each participant in the 2010 “Reducing Health Disparities: The Role of Sleep Deficiency and Sleep Disorders” workshop. Gary Bennett, PhD, Duke University; Carla Boutin-Foster, MD, Cornell University; Joseph Buckhalt, PhD, Auburn University; Orfeu Buxton, PhD, Harvard Medical School; Mercedes Carnethon, PhD, FAHA, Northwestern University; Lisa Cooper, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University; Tiffany Gary-Webb, PhD, Columbia University; Maria Glymour,

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