Many Australians are vigorously taking steps to improve their sleep. The usual global suspects such as stress, illness and technology are nightmarish when it comes to getting genuinely sufficient amounts of zzz’s. It’s no wonder that customers are turning to buying the mattress in a box in Australia as an affordable way to boost their sleep quality.
The Australian Journal of Pharmacy recently published results of Philips’ global sleep survey, which was in support of World Sleep Day not too long ago.
The results were enough to wake anyone and highlighted:
- A whopping 53% of Australian adults have some sort of medical issue impacting sleep, with almost 2 in 10 adults reporting insomnia, chronic pain and snoring (all 16%) as common causes.
- Agonizing and stress has kept over half of Australian adults up at night in the past 3 months (51%), followed by illness/physical discomfort (27%), and technology distractions (21%).
- After a rough night’s sleep, Australian adults reported they aren’t as motivated (52%), look tired (49%), are moody/irritable (46%), or they can’t concentrate (42%).
- More than half (63%) of Australian adults have actively taken steps to improve their sleep quality, with listening to calming-relaxing music disclosed as one of the most prominent approaches (21%).
- Worse of all, compared to the rest of the world, Australian adults are among the most likely to use prescription sleep drugs (18%) to aid sleep.
The Philips annual sleep survey conducted online in February by Harris Poll on behalf of Philips, reviews the sleep habits of over 15,000 adults across 13 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, the UK, and the United States) and takes a closer look at how sleep is prioritized, addressed, and perceived by populations around the globe.
“This report shows that people across the globe including Australia are recognising the importance of healthy sleep and the consequences of poor sleep,” said Professor Rajaratnam from the Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences and Sleep Health Foundation.
“About 40% of Australians surveyed recognised that a bad night of sleep impacts a number of aspects of their brain functioning, including concentration (35%), motivation (43%) and mood (38%).
“The challenge for researchers in this rapidly expanding field is to develop innovative and effective solutions to help people identify and manage poor sleep, including sleep disorders as well as lifestyle-driven practices.”
“Sleep is the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. On a day to day basis, how well and how long we slept the night before is the single most important variable dictating how we feel,” said Dr David White, Chief Medical Officer, Philips Sleep & Respiratory Care.
“This survey shows that despite knowing sleep is important to overall health, people are still struggling to address it in the same way they would exercise or nutrition.
“The more we understand how sleep impacts everything we do, the better we can adjust our lifestyle and find solutions that help us get better sleep.”
Off the back of such findings, a pharmacy chain in Australia announced last month they will be rolling out the most comprehensive sleep apnoea testing program in Australia’s history.
The in-pharmacy program in partnership with Australian Pharmacy Sleep Services (APSS) will enable 1.8 million undiagnosed Australians living with sleep deprivation and exhaustion to easily test if they are suffering from sleep apnoea.
Latest statistics indicate that as many as one in four Australians are at risk of developing Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), which is associated with high blood pressure and diabetes. Even more concerning, more than 80 per cent of OSA sufferers are yet to be diagnosed.
Hopefully, all these stats haven’t put you to sleep… Or maybe they should have! Sleep is paramount to our overall well-being, so get to bed, or have a fifteen minute power nap.
