CDC Sleep: Are You Getting Enough Rest?

By: Susan Harris
03/04/2011 07:05 PM ET

CDC Sleep. More than a third of U.S. adults sleep less than seven hours a night and report trouble concentrating. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the statistics Thursday in two separate studies.

In one study, about 35 percent of people surveyed in 12 states said they slept less than seven hours a night, on average.

The second study based on a national survey found about 23 percent said they had trouble concentrating because they were tired. Another 18 percent struggled to remember things, and 11 percent had difficulty driving or commuting.

An estimated 50-70 million adults in the United States have chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders. Sleep difficulties, some of which are preventable, are associated with chronic diseases, mental disorders, health-risk behaviors, limitations of daily functioning, injury, and mortality.

The National Sleep Foundation suggests that most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night. To assess unhealthy sleep-related behaviors, CDC analyzed data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 2009. The results indicated that 37.9% reported unintentionally falling asleep during the day, and 4.7% reported nodding off or falling asleep while driving in the preceding 30 days.