The Association Between Race, Ethnicity and Sleep Quality and Duration: A National Health Interview Survey Study

Inadequate sleep duration and poor sleep quality are associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, we compared self-reported sleep duration and quality among different groups: Whites, Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, and Other Asians. Outcome included Sleep duration (≥7 and <7 hours) and sleep quality (coded as a binary variable).

We included 155,203 participants. The overall prevalence of ≥7 hours of sleep was 69.5% and poor sleep quality was reported by 73.9%. Compared to Whites and Chinese, Filipinos, and Other Asians were less likely to get adequate sleep (≥7 hours). All 4 Asian groups were less likely to report poor sleep quality compared with White individuals, while Asian Indians reported poor sleep quality less frequently compared with Chinese individuals.

There are significant differences in sleep duration and quality between White and Asian groups, as well as within Asian subgroups. Further studies with disaggregated Asian subgroup data are needed to formally study these disparities.