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

Abstract

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recently released a Consensus Statement regarding the recommended amount of sleep to promote optimal health in adults. This paper describes the methodology, background literature, voting process, and voting results for the consensus statement. In addition, we address important assumptions and challenges encountered during the consensus process. Finally, we outline future directions that will advance our understanding of sleep need and place sleep duration in the broader context of sleep health.

Relationship between sleep duration and self-reported health-related quality of life among US adults with or without major chronic diseases, 2014

“…It is not possible to determine the degree to which short or long sleep duration is the cause of poor health or HRQOL or a marker of poor health, although other studies have provided some potential evidence for a causal association between short sleep duration, but not long sleep duration, and several chronic conditions. 14 The results from our stratified analyses by sex, age, race/ethnicity, and BMI category support this hypothesis and the relationship between long sleep duration and HRQOL observed in some studies may be caused by confounding factors. Second, sample selection bias due to the low response rate may also impact our results.…”

“…7–15 Emerging evidence from longitudinal studies suggests that short sleep duration is more likely to be associated with chronic disease than sufficient sleep duration (≥7 hours/24 hours). 14 A U-shaped relationship was reported between sleep duration and self-rated health and quality of life among middle-aged and elderly Australians in one study. 16 Short sleep duration was found to be associated with poor self-rated health among college students aged 17–30 years in another study.…”

Sleep duration and the associated cardiometabolic risk scores in adults

“…Indeed, our findings must be interpreted with caution since we used selfreported sleep duration, which are less accurate than sleep diaries, actigraphy, or polysomnography. 11 Future studies with objective measures of sleep may provide more accurate estimates of the relationship between sleep and cardiometabolic risk.…”

“…10 However, until recently, even among sleep experts, there was a lack of consensus on what constitutes sufficient sleep for adults' overall health. 11 To address this, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society developed a consensus statement for adults in 2015 highlighting the sleep duration needed for optimal health. 12 This statement was developed by a team of 15 sleep experts, and it concluded that at least 7 hours of sleep per night is needed on a regular basis for overall health in adults.…”

Sleep indices and eating behaviours in young adults: findings from Project EAT

“…1–3 Failing to meet this recommendation has been associated with poor physical health, 4 mental health 5 and quality of life. 6–8 National survey data indicate that young adults, aged 25–34, are particularly likely to get insufficient sleep; in 2014, 28% reported sleeping fewer than 7 hours per night.…”