Millions are losing sleep due to anxiety, fear, and the difficulty of maintaining a schedule during this pandemic. Research suggests that those who get insufficient sleep may be at risk for health conditions such as obesity and heart disease. Yet, too much sleep may increase the risk of other health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. For optimal health, The National Institute of Health (NIH) suggests that seven to eight hours of sleep for those aged 18 and above. Anything outside of this 7-8 hours may be costly for your health and wallet in the long run.
Jasani and colleagues recently published an article in Medical Care in the September 2020 issue, that estimates the incremental healthcare costs for both short and long duration of sleep. In this study, a short duration of sleep was defined as 7 hours or less, and a long duration was defined as more than 8 hours of sleep, both of which are 
considered unhealthy.
The article used data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) that captured health status and behaviors. Additionally, data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) provided demographics and socioeconomic status. From these data, the authors generated a stepwise model of the costs of sleep duration. This model was based on incremental adjustments of the demographics, socioeconomic, lifestyle and health, health status, and chronic conditions.
Population Trends
Most participants reported an average duration of sleep (62.6%). In contrast, 29.4% reported short duration and 8.2% reported a long duration of sleep. The authors found that covariates used in the study are associated with sleep duration. For example, 40.4% of non-Hispanic Blacks reported short sleep duration compared to the other ethnic/racial groups. Another covariant was age. The age group 45-54 reported the least amount of sleep compared to all other age groups. Additionally, some behaviors were found to be associated with sleep duration, such as smoking. 37% of smokers reported short duration of sleep compared to 27% of non-smokers with short duration of sleep. Overall, most of who reported good to average sleep (7-8 hours) also reported good overall health (64.7%) and good mental health (64.7%).
The Cost In Dollars
Short duration sleepers have a higher total annual health care costs of $989 when adjusted for covariates ($1,400 unadjusted) compared to average duration sleepers. These sleepers had higher medical costs in the emergency room, inpatient, and outpatient services categories. Short duration sleepers with chronic illness accrue more costs than long sleepers with chronic illness.
Long duration sleepers had a total annual health care costs of $867 when adjusted to covariates ($2,994 unadjusted). These sleepers have the highest expenses in office-based visits, prescription, and home health categories than average and short duration sleepers.
The average total annual health care costs were not statistically significant for either short or long duration of sleep; however, sleep duration may still be a contributor to healthcare costs. However, the analyses do point to several correlates of short sleep duration. Despite the chaos the pandemic has brought, it is important to get a healthy amount of sleep for one’s overall wellbeing.
Jennifer Oliveira