Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, Sleep Duration, and Napping in Middle-To-Old Aged US Men and Women

Study Objectives

Earlier studies have linked neighborhood disadvantage with poor sleep outcomes. However, little is known about the association between changes in one's neighborhood over time and night sleep and napping. In over 300,000 middle-to-old aged Americans, we examined neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and change in neighborhood SES in relation to nocturnal sleep duration and napping.

Methods

Nocturnal sleep duration and daytime napping were self-reported at baseline (1995–1996). Participants also reported baseline residential addresses, which were linked to US censuses. We derived a neighborhood SES index using census variables and calculated the baseline level and change (1990–2000) in neighborhood SES. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the associations between neighborhood SES over time and nocturnal sleep and napping.

Results

Lower baseline neighborhood SES was associated with short sleep, long sleep, and napping. When compared with the highest quintile of neighborhood SES, the lowest was associated with 46% and 72% increase in relative risk (RR) of reporting very short (< 5 hours) sleep, 28% and 19% higher RR of long (≥9 hours) sleep and 95% and 85% increase in long (≥1 hours) nap in men and women, respectively. Moreover, a decrease in neighborhood SES was associated with higher RR of reporting very short sleep in women; while an improvement in neighborhood SES was associated with an increase in RR of long sleep in men.

Conclusions

Neighborhood disadvantage and worsening neighborhood conditions were associated with unhealthy sleep behaviors. These results reinforce a growing literature on the potential importance of neighborhood context for understanding sleep health.