TITLE:
A Proposal on the Novel Method to Estimate Optimal Sleep Duration Based on Self-Reported Survey Data
AUTHORS:
Jun Kohyama
KEYWORDS:
Body Mass Index, Catch-Up Sleep, Insufficient Sleep Syndrome, Optimal Sleep Duration, Sleepiness
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science,
Vol.14 No.8,
August
6,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: Many adolescents have a sleep debt. Individuals sleeping for their optimal sleep duration are expected to experience no sleepiness. Then, it is important to recognize one’s optimal sleep duration to reduce sleep debt. However, there is no simple method to determine this value. Since body mass index and sleep duration exhibit a U-shaped association, it is expected that a person taking optimal sleep duration would show no marked deviation from the mean body mass index value for the population evaluated. By using self-reported sleepiness and standardized body mass index, this study aimed to estimate individual optimal sleep duration. Methods: Data from 2540 grade 5 - 11 students were used. Students who declared no sleepiness during class and also had a gender- and grade-standardized body mass index of ±1.5 were termed ideal students. The average sleep durations of ideal students were compared with those of non-ideal students. The differences of sleep duration between ideal and no-ideal students were added to habitual sleep duration of each non-ideal student to obtain assumed optimal sleep duration. A multiple regression line to predict assumed optimal sleep duration was calculated using the least squares method. Results: The mean sleep duration of 666 ideal students exceeded the lower limit of daily sleep duration proposed as “may be appropriate” for children aged 6 - 17 years by National Sleep Foundation of the USA, being longer than those of non-ideal students. Significant regression formula for assumed optimal sleep duration was obtained (adjusted R2 = 0.996, p Conclusions: No contradiction was identified in the sleep duration obtained from ideal students as with optimal sleep duration. Although further studies to confirm the current estimation are needed, a simple formula to estimate individual optimal sleep duration through easily obtainable parameters was proposed.