Reducing health disparities: the role of sleep deficiency and sleep disorders
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.
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,
References (44)
- et al.
Relationships between hours of sleep and health-risk behaviors in US adolescent students
Prev Med
(2011) - et al.
Obstructive sleep apnoea and type 2 diabetes mellitus: a bidirectional association
Lancet Respir Med
(2013) Psychiatric Disorders and Sleep Issues
Med Clin North Am
(2014)- et al.
Sleep disorders in pregnancy
Clin Chest Med
(2014) - et al.
Circadian rhythms, sleep deprivation, and human performance
Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci
(2013) Sociodemographic and cultural determinants of sleep deficiency: implications for cardiometabolic disease risk
Soc Sci Med
(2013)- et al.
Perceived neighborhood quality, sleep quality, and health status: evidence from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin
Soc Sci Med
(2013) - et al.
Influence of the Circadian System on Disease Severity
Sleep Med Clin
(2009) - et al.
Circadian disruption in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome
Diabetes Metab
(2014) - et al.
Racial/ethnic differences in cortisol diurnal rhythms in a community sample of adolescents
J Adolesc Health
(2007)