Men and women sleep at a similar circadian phase

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burgess HJ ; Suh C
• Description:
  Introduction: Some studies have reported that women sleep at a slightly earlier clock time than men. Other studies have reported that women also have circadian clocks set to a slightly earlier time, as seen in the earlier onset of the endogenous melatonin rhythm collected in dim light (DLMO). However reports on whether women sleep at a different circadian phase to men are mixed: some report that the DLMO is earlier relative to sleep in women versus men (thus women sleep at a later circadian time). while others report no sex difference. Here we reexamined a large data set to look for sex differences in circadian phase angle. Methods: Forty four healthy subjects (19-43 years) maintained a fixed 8 hour baseline sleep schedule (verified with wrist actigraphy) for at least 3 days, determined by their average self-reported bed and wake times from the previous week. This was immediately followed by a circadian phase assessment during which half hourly saliva samples were collected in dim light "10 lux) for determination of the DLMO. Each man was matched to a woman (free of hormonal contraception) according to age (+/- 5 years) and wake time (+/- 30 minutes) as per Cain et al. 2010. Results: Women slept on average 12 minutes later relative to their circadian clock than men (DLMO to bedtime interval 3.0 versus 2.8 hours respectively. p=0.55). These results are in the same direction as reported by others, but show no significant sex difference in circadian phase angle. Conclusion: These results suggest that men and women sleep at a similar circadian phase. We are currently adding an additional 20 men-women matched pairs to this data set and so will soon have the largest data set available (n=42 matched pairs) to comprehensively examine sex differences in circadian phase angle. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Circadian Rhythm Men Occupational Health Safety Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders Women
• Keywords:
  Age-groups Circadian-rhythms Humans Sleep-deprivation Sleep-disorders
• ISSN:
  0161-8105
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  34
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045358
• Citation:
  Sleep 2011 Jun; 34(Abstract Suppl):A62
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  Sleep
• Supplement:
  Abstract Supplement
• End Date:
  20090430
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:97d68f6a90fe2371f0d3e4a270efe690798d80c94df6ab3e68883275f5b5dc0e528495f5a49c74968527dd779c54cf77c46da826e6076d13f18ca583d2ecbe7e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200806/cdc_200806_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.12 MB ]