Inadequate sleep costs countries a bomb
Melbourne, June 4: Inadequate sleep, a health problem affecting at least one in three adults worldwide, could cost countries billions, a study has found.
Researchers from Victoria University and University of Western Australia attempted to measure the economic consequences of limited sleep times in Australia.
Limited sleep times is defined as “difficulties with sleep initiation, maintenance or quality associated with the presence of impaired daytime alertness” at least several days a week.
The study, published in the journal Sleep, evaluated financial and nonfinancial cost data derived from national surveys and databases.
Costs considered included: financial costs associated with health care, informal care provided outside the healthcare sector, productivity losses, non- medical work and vehicle accident costs, deadweight loss through inefficiencies relating to lost taxation revenue and welfare payments; and nonfinancial costs of a loss of wellbeing.
The financial cost component was USD 17.88 billion, which comprised of: direct health costs of USD 160 million for sleep disorders and USD 1.08 billion for associated conditions.
Productivity losses amounted to USD 12.19 billion, while non- medical accidents cost USD 2.48 billion.
The non- financial cost of reduced well- being was USD 27.33 billion. Thus, the estimated overall cost of inadequate sleep in Australia in 2016- 17 was USD 45.21 billion. Community sleep surveys suggest that inadequate sleep is substantial and increasing.
Surveys performed several years ago demonstrated that complaints of inadequate sleep were common, with between 20 and 30 per cent of respondents complaining of inadequate sleep on a regular basis across several Western nations.
Recent surveys suggest this proportion is increasing; between 33 and 45 per cent of Australian adults now have this complaint.
The growth of the problem is shared by other nations. Some 35 per cent of US adults are not getting the recommended 7 hours of sleep.
About 30 per cent of Canadians do not feel they are getting enough sleep. Some 37 per cent of those in the UK, 28 per cent of people in Singapore, and 26 per cent of French report insufficient sleep.