• Featured News

    Mayo Clinic Minute: Survey reveals issues with sleep routines

close-up-of-insomniac-man-unable-to-sleep-in-bedThey call seven to eight hours “a good night’s sleep.” However, nearly half of respondents to a Mayo Clinic health survey say they get that amount of sleep half the time or less.

The Mayo Clinic National Health Check-Up is a survey that explores a variety of health perspectives and behaviors among American adults. The latest analysis, which was conducted in July, includes responses from 1,012 participants to a variety of health questions, including ones about sleep.

Among the results:

  • Most people (72 percent) define a good night’s sleep as seven or eight hours, which is within the recommended seven and nine hours of sleep for adults.
  • More men (24 percent) than women (16 percent) consider six or fewer hours to be a good night’s sleep.
  • While parents of young children may disagree, the data revealed that the frequency of a good night’s sleep is not impacted by whether there are children in a household.

If you’re struggling to get at least seven hours of shut-eye every night, it might be because of what’s called your sleep hygiene. That’s the term doctors use for a series of habits that influence sleep.

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Jeff Olsen talks with Dr. Eric Olson, a Mayo Clinic sleep specialist, about some simple ways to improve your sleep hygiene.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (1:06) is in the downloads. Read the script .

Related Articles