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OBJECTIVES: Sleep health is essential for health promotion and disease prevention. In the United States, rural communities face unique challenges (e.g., low access to health-promoting resources like food options, healthcare, and social services due to geographic isolation) that may exacerbate sleep disturbances. Yet, sleep in this group is rarely characterized. Therefore, we sought to perform a descriptive study of sleep health characteristics among children and adults living in rural counties in the United States. METHODS: Reported sleep duration (among adults only) and disturbances such as nonrestorative sleep (among children and adults) were described by age group using cross-sectional data from the 2020 and 2022 National Health Interview Survey. We additionally assessed differences in sleep by sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., sex, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status) using Poisson regression with robust variance to estimate prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals (PR 95% CI). RESULTS: Among 1429 children and 8673 adults, sleep disturbances were prevalent across all age groups. As age increased among children, sleep disturbances were more prevalent, while consistent bed and wake times were less prevalent. Consistent disparities emerged among 6-13-year-olds, including higher sleep disturbances among children with lower vs. higher socioeconomic status. Sex disparities occurred among adolescents (14-17 years old). Among adults (≥18 years old), sleep duration and disturbances varied across all sociodemographic characteristics, with generally higher prevalence among groups with adverse social conditions (e.g., divorced/separated/widowed; low socioeconomic status). CONCLUSION: Sleep disturbances and disparities are prevalent among rural populations, particularly among children aged 6-13 years and adults.
Gaston et al. (Thu,) studied this question.