Prioritization of Sleep: Discrepancies Between Attitude and Practice

Abstract

Objectives: With the promotion of sleep through education, an increasing recognition of the importance of sleep among the general public has been observed. However, whether this increased recognition affects sleep practices is unknown. To provide direction for future sleep education programs, this study aimed to explore the consistency between people’s prioritization of sleep among their daily life activities and their actual practice when sleep conflicts with other activities.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional online survey with 898 adults (male:female=372:526; age=39.74±10.04 years). The participants were asked to complete an online survey that required them to 1) rate how important sleep was; 2) prioritize daily life activities including sleep, work, family activities, leisure activities, social activities, and exercise; and 3) recall the actions they undertook at the most recent instance when sleep conflicted with each of the other activities.Results: Although 70.7% of the participants prioritized sleep by placing it in their top three daily life activities, only 35.7% and 38.1% chose to go to sleep when it conflicted with work and family activities, respectively. Gender and occupational factors also significantly influenced the discrepancy between sleep attitudes and practices.Conclusions: Our study demonstrated an inconsistency between reporting sleep as a priority in daily life activities and actual behavioral practices when sleep conflicted with other activities. The results suggest that sleep education should not only emphasize the importance of sleep but also provide practical solutions for circumstances when sleep conflicts with other activities.