Researchers from the University of Arizona have found that people who share a bed with a spouse or partner sleep better than those who sleep alone and may even have a lower risk of problems such as insomnia and sleep apnea. “Very few research studies are investigating this, but our findings show that whether we sleep alone or with a partner, family member or pet can affect our sleep health,” said Dr. Michael Grandner, director of the University Sleep and Health Research Program. of Arizona and senior author of the study, he said in a press release. “We were very surprised to learn how important this could be.” The study, presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, focused on data from about 1,000 adults living in southeastern Pennsylvania. This data was gathered in the study Sleep and Health Activity, Diet, Environment and Socialization (SHADES), which tried to ask a series of questions to a group of participants in order to get a better picture of how sleep affects different parts of our health. . Participants completed surveys reporting the frequency with which they shared a bed with a partner or spouse, a child or children, pets, other family members, or anyone. They measured insomnia, sleep quality, fatigue and the risk of sleep apnea using standard indicators for these issues. They also looked at age, gender, race, income and education to see if they confused the results. Those who responded that they slept with a partner or spouse “most nights” scored higher on the quality of their sleep than those who slept alone. They also showed less WASO – “wake up after the onset of sleep” – which is when a person wakes up after they have already fallen asleep, a measure of sleep disruption. “Sleeping with a romantic partner or spouse has been shown to have major health benefits for sleep, including reduced risk of sleep apnea, the severity of sleep apnea, and overall improved sleep quality,” Brandon Fuentes, Ph.D. of psychiatry at the University of Arizona and the lead author of the study, said in a statement. However, those who frequently shared a bed with a child reported higher levels of insomnia, less sleep control, and appeared to have a higher risk of apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which a person’s breathing while sleeping is irregular and can stop or start abruptly and can be dangerous. Sleeping with a partner was also associated with lower depression and anxiety compared to those who slept alone more often, while sharing a bed with a child was more often associated with higher stress. The study does have limitations, including that it relied on self-reported effects through research, which may not fully reflect whether participants had good sleep or not.
