Sleep

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In 2020, 72.1% of adults 18 and older reported getting sufficient sleep.

Summary graph for Sleep, Click to see detailed view of graph

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Background

Sleep health – including sleep duration, efficiency, and quality, as well as sleep timing and regularity – is important to overall health. Poor sleep may directly affect mortality risk and influence risk for cancer and other non-communicable diseases through its impact on immune function, stress response and inflammation, DNA repair, and metabolic and hormonal activity. It may also impact mortality through its effect on modifiable risk factors, including physical activity, diet, alcohol, and tobacco use.

Existing evidence indicates that sleep duration is associated with cancer mortality. However, across sites, risk may vary by sleep duration – both short (<7 hours/night) and long (>9 hours/night) sleep duration. Findings are also mixed regarding the association between sleep duration and cancer risk. Other aspects of poor sleep health, including poor sleep quality and irregular sleep timing due to shift work, have also been linked to increased risk of cancer, highlighting the need for future research in these areas.

Additionally, poor sleep health is associated with poorer treatment efficacy, adverse physical and mental health outcomes, and increased mortality in cancer survivors. The mechanisms connecting sleep health and cancer survivorship are not fully understood and are an evolving area of study.

The recommendations stratified by age are 7 or more hours/night for adults 18-60 years, 7-9 hours for adults 31-64 years, and 7–8 hours for adults 65 years and older.

Measure

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day.

Healthy People 2030 Target

  • Increase the proportion of adults who get sufficient sleep to 68.6 percent.

Healthy People 2030 is a set of goals set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Note: Goals are indicated as a blue line on Detailed Trend Graphs.

Data Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey 2004 - 2020.

In 2019 the NHIS questionnaire was redesigned to increase relevance, enhance data quality, and minimize respondent burden. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges conducting in-person interviews for the 2020 NHIS, requiring changes to field procedures to conduct most surveys by telephone, which impacted survey response rates. For details related to the potential impacts of these issues, please refer to Potential Impact of NHIS Redesign and COVID-19 on the Cancer Trends Progress Report.

Trends and Most Recent EstimatesHelp with navigating the graphs and data tables

By Sex

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by sex, 2004-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by sex, 2004-2020 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 72.1 71.3 - 72.8
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 71.4 70.3 - 72.4
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 72.8 71.9 - 73.7

By Race/Ethnicity

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by race/ethnicity, 2004-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by race/ethnicity, 2004-2020 All Races/EthnicitiesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 72.1 71.3 - 72.8
Non-Hispanic WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic White 73.1 72.2 - 73.9
Non-Hispanic BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic Black 62.9 60.5 - 65.2
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 74.4 72.5 - 76.2

By Poverty Income Level

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by poverty income level, 2004-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by poverty income level, 2004-2020 <200% of federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for <200% of federal poverty level 69.0 67.5 - 70.5
>=200% of federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for >=200% of federal poverty level 73.2 72.3 - 74.0

By Education Level

Percentage of adults aged 25 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by highest level of education obtained, 2004-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 25 years and older who report getting sufficient sleep, defined as an average of 7 or more hours of sleep per day by highest level of education obtained, 2004-2020 Less than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Less than High School 72.7 70.1 - 75.2
High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for High School 68.1 66.4 - 69.8
Greater than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Greater than High School 71.8 70.9 - 72.6

Additional Information on Sleep

Year Range

2004-2020

Recent Summary Trend Year Range

2016-2020

Summary Tables

Weight and Physical Activity

Recent Summary Trend

Rising

Desired Direction

Rising