Sleep Habits of Long Island Rail Road Commuters

Postage-paid, mail-back questionnaires (n=21,000) were distributed to riders of the LIRR during the westbound morning rush hour (6-9 A.M. ) over six consecutive weekdays in March of 1994.Twenty-two volunteers distributed questionnaires at 15 different stations, encompassing rides of 30-90 minutes.Commuters were asked to complete and return the questionnaire.Questions regarding sleep were selected and formatted to match those of previous community-based studies and covered a range of sleep issues. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Answers pertaining to sleep quality and symptom prevalence were arranged using a 5-point Likert frequency scale (1=Never, 2=Rarely, 3=Moderately, 4=Very often, 5=Always) and a "Don't Know" category.The "don't know" category was coded as missing data and ranged between 0.2% and 3.7% of any item.Additional demographic and general medical information was gathered.Responses could be anonymous.The project received NYU Institutional Review Board and LIRR management approval.Once collected, questionnaires were given identifying numbers.Obvious errors and omissions such as commute times and place were identified, corrected when possible, or excluded from the database.When appropriate, categories "never" and "sometimes" were combined and con-Study Objectives: We addressed the issue of how commuting affects sleep habits, and its association with general health and potential sleep disorders in individuals on a large, U.S. commuter rail system.Design: Postage-paid mail back questionnaires were distributed to commuters over 6 consecutive weekdays.The questionnaire incorporated previously validated questions regarding sleep habits.Setting: Questionnaires were dispensed at 15 different rail stations.Participants: 21,000 commuters accepted the questionnaire.Measurements and results: Data was analyzed by total group and length of commute.A total of 4715 (22%) questionnaires were returned.Over 50% of the sample reported difficulty with sleep and wakefulness while only 3% sought professional help.Sleep apnea was suspected in 4.2% of male and 1% of female respondents and was associated with increased reports of excessive daytime sleepiness, and history of hypertension, diabetes and obesity.Total nocturnal sleep time was significantly less in those subjects with long commutes.Seventy percent of respondents reported napping during the commute.Length of commute was associated with hypertension.Conclusion: Commuting long distances negatively impacts one's ability to capture adequate sleep.Data suggests that there may be significant numbers of respondents with unrecognized sleep disorders which further impact on general health.