1209 Presence of a Bed Partner Associated with Endorsement of Sleep Disorders Symptoms: Data from the Online Sleep Health Screening Project

Abstract Introduction The presence of a bed partner can influence sleep, but little is known about how bed sharing relates to the self-reporting of clinical sleep disorder symptoms. On one hand, bed partners may help stabilize sleep routines and identify potential symptoms such as snoring or breathing pauses; on the other, partner presence could alter subjective awareness or reporting patterns. Understanding these associations could inform both clinical screening practices and the interpretation of self-reported sleep health data. Methods Participants completed an online sleep health screener that is available to the public (https://sleephealthscreen.com). This consists of the Sleep Disorders Symptom Check List (SDSCL), which includes 25 items related to sleep disorder symptoms. Presence of a bed partner was asked as “Do you regularly have a bed partner (3 days/week)?” All consecutive responses to the questionnaire were included, following cleaning for duplicate and invalid entries. Ordinal regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, work hours, and work shift. Results A total of 3,091 individuals provided complete data. Those with a bedpartner were less likely to endorse insufficient sleep (oOR=0.75), irregularity (oOR=0.57), difficulty falling asleep (oOR=0.56), staying asleep (oOR=0.73), and early morning awakenings (oOR=0.84), fatigue (oOR=0.60), phase delay (oOR=0.54), sleepiness (oOR=0.85), cataplexy-like symptoms (oOR=0.78), sleep hallucinations (oOR=0.77), sleep paralysis (oOR=0.77), nightmares (oOR=0.80), sudden awakenings (oOR=0.78), and sleep problems interfering with functioning (oOR=0.62) and more likely to report more snoring (oOR=1.51), loud snoring (oOR=2.05), and breathing pauses (oOR=1.31). Conclusion Adults with a regular bed partner reported fewer insomnia-related symptoms and better-perceived sleep regularity but were more likely to endorse snoring and breathing pauses—symptoms that are often observed by others rather than self-perceived. These findings suggest that bed partners may enhance the detection of sleep-disordered breathing while potentially reducing the subjective perception or reporting of insomnia-related difficulties. Clinically, this pattern underscores the importance of incorporating collateral information from partners in both clinical assessments and population screening tools. Community-based sleep health initiatives and digital screeners could also leverage brief items about partner observations to improve identification of individuals at risk for sleep apnea or other disturbances that may go unnoticed in self-report–only contexts. Support (if any) R01MD011600, R01MH135978