This analysis documents U.S. racial/ethnic and gender differences in life expectancies with different self-reported sleep durations among adults aged 50 and older. We used self-reported sleep duration and linked mortality information from the 2004–2015 National Health Interview Survey (n = 145,015) to calculate Sullivan Method Lifetables for life expectancies with different self-reported sleep duration states: short (≤6 hours), optimal (seven to 8 hours), and long (≥9 hours) sleep duration per-day by race/ethnicity and gender. Non-Hispanic Black men (35.8%, 95% CI: 34.8%–36.8%) and women (36.5%, 95% CI: 35.7%–37.1%) exhibited the highest proportion of years lived with short sleep duration followed by Hispanic men (31.1%, 95% CI: 29.9%–32.3%) and women (34.1%, 95% CI: 33.1%–35.1%) and Non-Hispanic White men (25.8%, 95% CI: 25.4%–26.2%) and women (27.4%, 95% CI: 27.0%–27.7%). These results highlight how race/ethnic inequality in sleep duration and life expectancy are intertwined among older adults in the U.S.
AdenekanB.PandeyA.McKenzieS.ZiziF.CasimirG. J.Jean-LouisG. (2013). Sleep in America: Role of racial/ethnic differences. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 17(4), 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2012.07.002
2.
AlcántaraC.PatelS. R.CarnethonM.CastañedaS. F.IsasiC. R.DavisS.RamosA. R.ArredondoE.RedlineS.ZeeP. C.GalloL. C. (2017). Stress and sleep: Results from the Hispanic community health study/study of Latinos sociocultural ancillary study. SSM-Population Health, 3, 713–721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.08.004.
3.
AmezcuaL.McCauleyJ. L. (2020). Race and ethnicity on MS presentation and disease course. Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 26(5), 561–567. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458519887328
4.
AriasE.XuJ. (2019). United States life tables, 2017: National Vital Statistics Reports (7th ed., 68). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
5.
BaniakL. M.YangK.ChoiJ.ChasensE. R. (2020). Long sleep duration is associated with increased frailty risk in older community-dwelling adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 32(1), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264318803470
BlewettL. A.Rivera DrewJ.GriffinR.KingM. L.WilliamsK. C. (2018). IPUMS health surveys: National health interview survey, Version 6.3.[dataset]. IPUMS.
8.
BowlegL. (2012). The problem with the phrase women and minorities: Intersectionality—an important theoretical framework for public health. American Journal of Public Health, 102(7), 1267–1273. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2012.300750
9.
BrodyD. J.GuQ. (2020). Antidepressant use among adults: United States, 2015-2018. US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and .….
10.
BrownD. C.LariscyJ. T.KalousováL. (2019). Comparability of mortality estimates from social surveys and vital statistics data in the United States. Population Research and Policy Review, 38(3), 371–401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-018-9505-1
11.
BrownT. H. (2016). Diverging fortunes: Racial/ethnic inequality in wealth trajectories in middle and late life. Race and Social Problems, 8(1), 29–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-016-9160-2
12.
BrownT. H. (2018). Racial stratification, immigration, and health inequality: A life course-intersectional approach. Social Forces, 96(4), 1507–1540. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soy013
BuxtonO. M.MarcelliE. (2010). Short and long sleep are positively associated with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease among adults in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 71(5), 1027–1036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.05.041
15.
CantuP. A.HaywardM. D.HummerR. A.ChiuC.-T. (2013). New estimates of racial/ethnic differences in life expectancy with chronic morbidity and functional loss: Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 28(3), 283–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-013-9206-5
16.
CappuccioF. P.CooperD.D’eliaL.StrazzulloP.MillerM. A. (2011). Sleep duration predicts cardiovascular outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. European Heart Journal, 32(12), 1484–1492. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehr007
17.
CappuccioF. P.D’EliaL.StrazzulloP.MillerM. A. (2010a). Quantity and quality of sleep and incidence of type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Care, 33(2), 414–420. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc09-1124
18.
CappuccioF. P.D’EliaL.StrazzulloP.MillerM. A. (2010b). Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep, 33(5), 585–592. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/33.5.585
19.
ChenX.WangR.ZeeP.LutseyP. L.JavaheriS.AlcántaraC.JacksonC. L.WilliamsM. A.RedlineS. (2015). Racial/ethnic differences in sleep disturbances: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA). Sleep, 38(6), 877–888. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4732
20.
CrimminsE. M.HaywardM. D.SaitoY. (2018). Trends in mortality, disease, and physiological status in the older population. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop, 31(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/2061913
21.
CrimminsE. M.SaitoY.KimJ. K.ZhangY. S.SassonI.HaywardM. D. (2018). Educational differences in the prevalence of dementia and life expectancy with dementia: Changes from 2000 to 2010. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73(suppl_1), S20–S28. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbx135
FarinaM. P.HaywardM. D.KimJ. K.CrimminsE. M. (2019). Racial and educational disparities in dementia and dementia-free life expectancy. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.
24.
Fuller-RowellT. E.CurtisD. S.El-SheikhM.DukeA. M.RyffC. D.ZgierskaA. E. (2017). Racial discrimination mediates race differences in sleep problems: A longitudinal analysis. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(2), 165. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000104
25.
GarciaC.SheehanC. M.Flores-GonzalezN.AilshireJ. A. (2020). Sleep patterns among US latinos by nativity and country of origin: Results from the national health Interview survey. Ethnicity & Disease, 30(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.18865/ed.30.1.119
26.
GarciaM. A.DownerB.ChiuC.-T.SaenzJ. L.RoteS.WongR. (2017). Racial/ethnic and nativity differences in cognitive life expectancies among older adults in the United States. The Gerontologist, 59(2), 281–289. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx142
27.
GarciaM. A.Valderrama-HindsL. M.ChiuC.-T.MutambudziM. S.ChenN.-W.RajiM. (2017). Age of migration life expectancy with functional limitations and morbidity in Mexican Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 65(7), 1591–1596. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14875
28.
GeorgeK. M.PetersonR. L.GilsanzP.MungasD. M.GlymourM. M.MayedaE. R.WhitmerR. A. (2020). Racial/ethnic differences in sleep quality among older adults: Kaiser healthy aging and diverse life experiences (KHANDLE) study. Ethnicity & Disease, 30(3), 469–478. https://doi.org/10.18865/ed.30.3.469
29.
GerusoM. (2012). Black-white disparities in life expectancy: How much can the standard SES variables explain?Demography, 49(2), 553–574. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-011-0089-1
30.
GrandnerM. A.PatelN. P.GehrmanP. R.XieD.ShaD.WeaverT.GooneratneN. (2010). Who gets the best sleep? Ethnic and socioeconomic factors related to sleep complaints. Sleep Medicine, 11(5), 470–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2009.10.006
HarariL.LeeC. (2021). Intersectionality in quantitative health disparities research: A systematic review of challenges and limitations in empirical studies. Social Science & Medicine, 277, 113876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113876.
33.
HomanP.BrownT. H.KingB. (2021). Structural intersectionality as a new direction for health disparities research. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 62(3), 350–370. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465211032947
34.
HummerR. A.MelvinJ. E.SheehanC.WangY. (2013). Race/ethnicity, mortality, and longevity. In Handbook of minority aging (pp. 131–151). Springer Publishers.
35.
JacksonC. L.PatelS. R.JacksonW. B.LutseyP. L.RedlineS. (2018). Agreement between self-reported and objectively measured sleep duration among white, black, Hispanic, and Chinese adults in the United States: Multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Sleep, 41(6), zsy057. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy057
36.
JohnsonD. A.JacksonC. L.WilliamsN. J.AlcántaraC. (2019). Are sleep patterns influenced by race/ethnicity – a marker of relative advantage or disadvantage? Evidence to date. Nature and Science of Sleep, 11, 79–95. https://doi.org/10.2147/nss.s169312.
37.
JungquistC. R.MundJ.AquilinaA. T.KlingmanK.PenderJ.Ochs-BalcomH.van WijngaardenE.DickersonS. S. (2016). Validation of the behavioral risk factor surveillance system sleep questions. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12(3), 301–310. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5570
38.
KaufmannC. N.MojtabaiR.HockR. S.ThorpeR. J.JrCanhamS. L.ChenL.-Y.WennbergA. M.Chen-EdinboroL. P.SpiraA. P. (2016). Racial/ethnic differences in insomnia trajectories among US older adults. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(7), 575–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2016.02.049
39.
KripkeD. F.LangerR. D.ElliottJ. A.KlauberM. R.RexK. M. (2011). Mortality related to actigraphic long and short sleep. Sleep Medicine, 12(1), 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2010.04.016
40.
LauderdaleD. S.Philip SchummL.KurinaL. M.McClintockM.ThistedR. A.ChenJ.-H.WaiteL. (2014). Assessment of sleep in the national social life, health, and aging project. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(Suppl_2), S125–S133. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbu092
41.
LeighL.HudsonI. L.BylesJ. E. (2016). Sleep difficulty and disease in a cohort of very old women. Journal of Aging and Health, 28(6), 1090–1104. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264315624907
42.
LiL.SheehanC. M.ThompsonM. S. (2019). Measurement invariance and sleep quality differences between men and women in the pittsburgh sleep quality index. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 15(12), 12. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.8082
43.
LuyM.MinagawaY. (2014). Gender gaps-Life expectancy and proportion of life in poor health. Health Reports, 25(12), 12–19.
44.
MathersC. D.RobineJ.-M. (1997). How good is Sullivan’s method for monitoring changes in population health expectancies?Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 51(1), 80–86. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.51.1.80
45.
MatriccianiL.BinY. S.LallukkaT.KronholmE.DumuidD.PaquetC. (2017). Past, present, and future: Trends in sleep duration and implications for public health. Sleep Health, 3(5), 317–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.07.006
46.
NagaiM.HoshideS.KarioK. (2010). Sleep duration as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease-a review of the recent literature. Current Cardiology Reviews, 6(1), 54–61. https://doi.org/10.2174/157340310790231635
47.
NielsenL.DanielsenK.SørensenT. (2011). Short sleep duration as a possible cause of obesity: Critical analysis of the epidemiological evidence. Obesity Reviews, 12(2), 78–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-789x.2010.00724.x
48.
PatelS. R.AyasN. T.MalhotraM. R.WhiteD. P.SchernhammerE. S.SpeizerF. E.StampferM. J.HuF. B. (2004). A prospective study of sleep duration and mortality risk in women. Sleep, 27(3), 440–444. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/27.3.440
49.
PatelS. R.MalhotraA.GottliebD. J.WhiteD. P.HuF. B. (2006). Correlates of long sleep duration. Sleep, 29(7), 881–889. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/29.7.881
50.
PetrovM. E.LichsteinK. L. (2016). Differences in sleep between black and white adults: An update and future directions. Sleep Medicine, 18, 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2015.01.011.
51.
RamosA. R.GuilliamD.DibS. I.KochS. (2014). Race/ethnic differences in obstructive sleep apnea risk in patients with acute ischemic strokes in south Florida. Sleep and Breathing, 18(1), 165–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-013-0865-9
52.
RamosA. R.WohlgemuthW. K.DongC.GardenerH.WrightC. B.Boden-AlbalaB.ElkindM. S.SaccoR. L.RundekT. (2011). Race-ethnic differences of sleep symptoms in an elderly multi-ethnic cohort: The Northern Manhattan study. Neuroepidemiology, 37(3–4), 210–215. https://doi.org/10.1159/000334315
53.
ScullinM. K. (2017). Do older adults need sleep? A review of neuroimaging, sleep, and aging studies. Current Sleep Medicine Reports, 3(3), 204–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-017-0086-z
54.
SewellA. A. (2016). The racism-race reification process: A mesolevel political economic framework for understanding racial health disparities. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 2(4), 402–432. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649215626936
55.
SheehanC.DomingueB. W.CrimminsE. (2018). Cohort trends in the gender distribution of household tasks in the United States and the implications for understanding disability. Journal of Aging and Health, 31(10), 1748–1769. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264318793469
56.
SheehanC. M.FrochenS. E.WalsemannK. M.AilshireJ. A. (2018). Are US adults reporting less sleep? Findings from sleep duration trends in the national health interview survey. Sleep, 42(2), zsy221. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy221
57.
SheehanC. M.WalsemannK. M.AilshireJ. A. (2020). Race/ethnic differences in educational gradients in sleep duration and quality among US adults. SSM-Population Health, 12, 100685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100685.
58.
ShenX.WuY.ZhangD. (2016). Nighttime sleep duration, 24-hour sleep duration and risk of all-cause mortality among adults: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 21480. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep21480
59.
StamatakisK. A.KaplanG. A.RobertsR. E. (2007). Short sleep duration across income, education, and race/ethnic groups: Population prevalence and growing disparities during 34 years of follow-up. Annals of Epidemiology, 17(12), 948–955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2007.07.096
60.
StamatakisK. A.PunjabiN. M. (2007). Long sleep duration: A risk to health or a marker of risk?Sleep Medicine Reviews, 11(5), 337–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2007.07.006
61.
SullivanD. F. (1971). A single index of mortality and morbidity. HSMHA Health Reports, 86(4), 347. https://doi.org/10.2307/4594169
62.
SuthersK.KimJ. K.CrimminsE. (2003). Life expectancy with cognitive impairment in the older population of the United States. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58(3), S179–S186. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.3.s179
63.
SuzukiE.YorifujiT.UeshimaK.TakaoS.SugiyamaM.OhtaT.Ishikawa-TakataK.DoiH. (2009). Sleep duration, sleep quality and cardiovascular disease mortality among the elderly: A population-based cohort study. Preventive Medicine, 49(2–3), 135–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.06.016
64.
TworogerS. S.LeeS.SchernhammerE. S.GrodsteinF. (2006). The association of self-reported sleep duration, difficulty sleeping, and snoring with cognitive function in older women. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 20(1), 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.wad.0000201850.52707.80
65.
WatanabeM.KikuchiH.TanakaK.TakahashiM. (2010). Association of short sleep duration with weight gain and obesity at 1-year follow-up: A large-scale prospective study. Sleep, 33(2), 161–167. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/33.2.161
66.
WatsonN. F.BelenkyG.BliwiseD. L.BuxtonO. M.BuysseD.DingesD. F.GangwischJ.GrandnerM. A.KushidaC.MalhotraR. K.MartinJ. L.PatelS. R.QuanS. F.TasaliE. (2015). Joint consensus statement of the American academy of sleep medicine and sleep research society on the recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: Methodology and discussion. Sleep, 38(8), 1161–1183. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4886
67.
YoungstedtS. D.Jean-LouisG. (2011). Long sleep a greater mortality risk than short sleep in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(5), 957. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03396.x
68.
YoungstedtS. D.KripkeD. F. (2004). Long sleep and mortality: Rationale for sleep restriction. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 8(3), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2003.10.002
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
