The National Sleep Foundation's 2005 Poll

By Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs
April 7, 2005

The National Sleep Foundation's 2005 "Sleep in America " poll revealed some very consistent trends that were reported three years ago in the 2002 poll. For example, the 2005 poll found that, on weekdays, respondents reported sleeping an average of 6.8 hours which was almost identical to the 6.9 hours reported three years ago. Similarly, on weekends, adults sleeping 7.4 hours in 2005 compared to 7.5 hours in 2002. Although media reports and some sleep researchers assert that we need at least eight hours of sleep per night, these findings once again do not support this notion. If we need at least eight hours of sleep, we would expect that the sleep durations of people in the real world would cluster around eight hours, not seven, yet the mean sleep duration has remained very consistent at around 7 hours for three years.

Similarly, the 2005 poll again revealed that 40% of Americans sleep less than 7 hours, and a full 70% sleep less than eight hours per night. Thus, for the vast majority of people, the natural homeostatic drive for sleep in the real world (versus the results of findings on young adults in a sleep laboratory) is under eight hours per night. Additionally, about three-fourths of respondents report that they get enough or more sleep than they need, again suggesting that a mean sleep duration of seven hours is perceived as sufficient for most people. Similarly, half of adults reported that they get a good night's sleep every night or almost every night on a mean of seven hours of sleep. 50% of adults report that they function effectively on less than seven hours of sleep.

Regarding insomnia, 35% of respondents reported experiencing the symptoms of insomnia every night in the 2005 poll compared to 33% three years ago, and 54% reported insomnia at least a few nights per week compared to 58% three years ago. Thus, prevalence rates of insomnia have remained constant.