0157 Ethnoracial Sleep Disparities among College Students in the United States: A Nationally Representative Study

Abstract

Introduction Racial/Ethnic disparities of sleep health in the United States may underlie other disparities in health and well-being. College students may be particularly vulnerable to suboptimal sleep health due to time constraints, social stressors, and environmental circumstances related to living in dormitories, which likely differ by race/ethnicity. However, few studies have investigated sleep disparities among college students. Methods We used data from the National Health Interview Survey (2004-2017) to test the hypothesis that racial/ethnic sleep disparities exist among college students residing in dormitories in the United States. Habitual short sleep duration (<7 hours/day), difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep (≥3 days/week), and perceived non-restorativeness of sleep (on most days) were self-reported. Adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, Poisson regression with robust variance was used to determine the prevalence of poor sleep dimensions among racial/ethnic minority students compared to Whites. Results Among 1,202 college students (64% White; 19% Black; 10% Hispanic/Latino; 7% Asian), the prevalence of short sleep duration among Black students (46%, 95% CI: 38-53) was significantly higher than Whites (33%, 95%CI: 32-35), but not among Hispanics/Latinos (33%, 95%CI: 24-42) and Asians (36%, 95%CI: 26-47). In adjusted models, Black students were more likely to report short sleep duration than their White counterparts (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) = 1.30, 95% CI:1.01-1.67), but there was no significant difference in short sleep duration among Asians (aPR=1.21, 95%CI: 0.86-1.70) and Hispanics/Latinos (aPR=1.02, 95%CI: 0.79-1.37). The proportion of separate insomnia symptoms ranged from 7% to 46% (combined symptoms: 7-27%) across ethnoracial groups (p>0.05). The prevalence of perceived non-restorativeness of sleep ranged from 15% to 46% across ethnoracial groups, but also did not differ by ethnoracial group. Conclusion In the US, Black college students, but not Hispanics/Latinos nor Asians, were more likely to experience short sleep duration compared to Whites. Insomnia symptoms and perceived restorativeness of sleep did not differ between ethnoracial groups. Future research identifying the social and environmental causes of these disparities using longitudinal designs, larger sample sizes, and objective sleep measures is warranted. Support (If Any) PSU Bunton-Waller Fellowship [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]