Common meanings of good and bad sleep in a healthy population sample

Abstract

Objectives: The study's purpose was to understand the common meanings and shared practices related to good and bad sleep from narratives of a sample of healthy participants.

Design: Interpretive phenomenology was the approach to analyze narratives of the participants' everyday experiences with sleep. Participants were interviewed and asked to describe typical good and bad nights' sleep, what contributes to their sleep experience, and the importance of sleep in their lives. Team interpretations of narratives identified common themes by consensus.

Setting: Medium sized city in New York State (upper west region).

Participants: A sample of 30 healthy participants were from a parent study (n=300) on testing the sleep questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Measurements/analysis: Interpretations of good and bad sleep.

Results: Participants described similar experiences of good and bad sleep often directly related to their ability to schedule time to sleep, fall asleep, and maintain sleep. Worrying about life stresses and interruptions prevented participants from falling asleep and staying asleep. Yet, based on current life priorities (socializers, family work focused, and optimum health seekers), they had differing values related to seeking sleep opportunities and strategizing to overcome challenges.

Conclusions: The participants' priorities reflected the context of their main concerns and stresses in life that influenced the importance given to promoting sleep opportunities. Public health messages tailored to life priorities could be developed to promote healthy sleep practices.

Keywords: Healthy adults; Meaning of sleep; Public health; Qualitative; Sleep hygiene.