Lack of shut-eye costly to Aussies

THREE-quarters of Australians experience broken sleep at least once a week and their long-term health is suffering, according to new research.

And more than 60 per cent of us are ignoring the critical warning signs of detrimental lack of sleep and it’s having serious economic and health consequences for the nation.

The cause of the concerning slumber numbers is our increasing digital connectedness, experts say. One has even gone as far as calling on employers to get behind funding sleep treatments and therapy for workers who are not getting enough shut-eye.

Regular sleep disruption can have life-threatening consequences, including an increased likelihood of accidents and injuries, as a result of the body’s typically slower reaction time.

Research conducted with 1053 Australians shows 76 per cent of us are experiencing broken sleep at least once a week.

And 75 per cent say we have irregular sleeping behaviour, such as not going to bed at the same time each day or waking at odd hours, but only 20 per cent have ever had their sleep assessed by a professional.

More than four in 10 admitted to feeling overwhelmed, anxious or depressed as a result of poor sleep hygiene, while a similar number also confessed to skipping their morning workout.

The findings are from the 2019 Sleep Health Survey conducted by Amcal Pharmacy and come as a House of Representatives parliamentary inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness in Australia is due to hold hearings in Sydney and Melbourne next week.

Amcal senior pharmacist Brinley Hosking said “a distressingly high” number of Australians were at risk of chronic sleep health deficiency conditions.

Lead partner of health economics and social policy at Deloitte Access Economics, Lynne Pezzullo, said the cost to the economy of lack of sleep was $26.2 billion in 2016-17 and the problem was getting worse.

She said that it would be worth employers looking at how they could better support employees to have good sleep habits, including even funding treatments for more serious conditions such as sleep apnoea.

“At the very least employers should have wellbeing programs that provide good health prevention strategies including supporting sleep,” Ms Pezzullo said.

EMPLOYERS SHOULD HAVE WELLBEING PROGRAMS THAT PROVIDE GOOD HEALTH PREVENTION STRATEGIES DELOITTE’S LYNNE PEZZULLO