If you are reading this, you are probably struggling to get some quality sleep. You are not alone—according to a 2020 survey by the National Sleep Foundation, approximately one in three U.S. adults do not get the adequate shut-eye they deserve. In this 5-minute read, you will learn about the basics of sleep health and begin your journey to getting better sleep. 

 

Dr. Daniel Buysse is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is one of the most influential sleep researchers today. In 2014, he developed the RU-SATED model, which includes six major dimensions of sleep health (Bussye, 2014).

 

1. Regularity. Regularity refers to the degree to which you are falling asleep at approximately the same time every day. Irregular sleep schedules can lead to your body organs falling out-of-sync with each other and jeopardize your immune system (Preston et al., 2009). 

 

2. Satisfaction. How satisfied you are with the quality of your sleep is difficult to assess objectively, but can predict significant clinical outcomes such as decreased cognitive functioning (Edinger et al., 2015). 

 

3. Alertness. This refers to your ability to maintain wakefulness throughout the day. Not feeling rested and alert after waking up has been shown to slow down your metabolism and lead to significant impairment in both your cognitive and physical performance. 

 

4. Timing. Our bodies keep a biological clock that runs on a 24-hour beat. This came from deep within our evolution. Disrupting this natural rhythm by going to sleep at odd hours can lead to chronic stress and a wide array of serious health concerns (Foster, 2020).

 

5. Efficiency. This refers to the ratio between time spent actually asleep and time available for sleeping. Low sleep efficiency can lead to chronic cardiovascular stress (Feliciano et al., 2018). 

 

6. Duration. It is recommended that adults get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night (Hirshkowitz et al., 2015). Not having enough sleep over a long period of time has very serious health consequences and is correlated with early mortality (Grandner et al., 2010). 

 

In summary, there are six major dimensions that you should keep in mind when striving for a good sleep lifestyle. By targeting specific domains, you can form clearly defined and goal-oriented plans when trying to improve your sleep health. 

 

References

 

Aminoff, M. J., Boller, F., & Swaab, D. F. (2011). We spend about one-third of our life either sleeping or attempting to do so. Handbook of clinical neurology, 98, vii-vii.

 

Buysse, D. J. (2014). Sleep health: can we define it? Does it matter?. Sleep, 37(1), 9-17.

 

Cespedes Feliciano, E. M., Quante, M., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Redline, S., Oken, E., & Taveras, E. M. (2018). Objective sleep characteristics and cardiometabolic health in young adolescents. Pediatrics, 142(1).

 

Edinger, J. D., Buysse, D. J., Deriy, L., Germain, A., Lewin, D. S., Ong, J. C., & Morgenthaler, T. I. (2015). Quality measures for the care of patients with insomnia. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 11(3), 311-334.

 

Foster, R. G. (2020). Sleep, circadian rhythms and health. Interface Focus, 10(3), 20190098.

 

Grandner, M. A., Hale, L., Moore, M., & Patel, N. P. (2010). Mortality associated with short sleep duration: the evidence, the possible mechanisms, and the future. Sleep medicine reviews, 14(3), 191-203.

 

Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., ... & Ware, J. C. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s updated sleep duration recommendations. Sleep health, 1(4), 233-243.

 

Preston, B. T., Capellini, I., McNamara, P., Barton, R. A., & Nunn, C. L. (2009). Parasite resistance and the adaptive significance of sleep. BMC evolutionary biology, 9, 1-9.