Gender and racial/ethnic differences in sleep duration in the North Texas heart study

Abstract

Objective Short sleep duration has been linked with a wide array of poor mental and physical health outcomes. Such risks, however, may be moderated by demographic factors such as gender and race/ethnicity. In a diverse community sample, the current study examined the relationship between gender, race/ethnicity and objectively measured sleep duration, controlling for select potential confounds.

Methods Participants were 300 community adults (50% female), aged 21 to 70 years, and included 60% non-Hispanic Whites, 15% non-Hispanic Blacks, 19% Hispanic/Latino, and 6% other. As part of a larger study, participants wore an actigraphy device over two nights to assess sleep duration (averaged across both nights). Gender and race/ethnicity were used as grouping variables in a two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) predicting objectively assessed total sleep time, with age, income, and employment status as covariates.

Results On average, males slept 34 min less than females (P = .002). After controlling for socioeconomic factors, there was a gender by race/ethnicity interaction (P = .030). Within males, Hispanics slept 45 min less than non-Hispanic Whites (P = .002) and 57 min less than non-Hispanic others (P = .008). Males also slept significantly less than females within the non-Hispanic White (difference = −22.9; P = .016) and the Hispanic (difference = −77.1; P < .001) groups.

Conclusions Extending previous research, the current study provides additional evidence for differences in objective sleep duration based on gender and race/ethnicity in daily life. These data suggest that risk associated with sleep duration is patterned in important ways across gender and race/ethnicity; such information can be used to tailor prevention efforts.