People all over the world have prioritised their health and well-being more than ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began. A big part of that was raising awareness about the health benefits of sleep.
Sleep serves as a mental and physical reset. A good night’s sleep improves both physical and cognitive health and allows people to perform tasks that require prolonged concentration better. People who are well rested, for example, can work more productively, drive more safely, and think more clearly.
Given the pandemic’s impact on our daily habits, it’s worth investigating how our sleep may have changed as a result.
Let’s take a closer look at how sleep duration and efficiency have changed around the world since the pandemic began, using the sleep patterns of global Samsung Health users.
Why Does Sleep Duration Matter in Relation to Efficiency?
When it comes to sleep, more time does not always equal better quality. Duration refers to the amount of time spent in bed trying to sleep for the purposes of this analysis, whereas sleep efficiency measures the percentage of time spent in bed that we actually spend sleeping.
While changes in lifestyle habits during the pandemic caused people all over the world to sleep longer, there appears to be no link between sleep duration and sleep efficiency.
In fact, despite people in all countries getting more sleep on average than before the pandemic, we actually saw a decrease in overall sleep efficiency.
Furthermore, the results differed by gender. While both males and females are sleeping more than before the pandemic, males not only have a longer increase in sleep duration, but they also have a larger decrease in sleep efficiency than females.
Another factor that provides interesting insights is age. While all age groups slept longer, sleep efficiency actually decreased with age. The exception here is people aged 20 to 39, who actually experienced an increase in sleep efficiency. In addition, this age group was the only one that showed a significant increase in both duration and efficiency.
How the Pandemic Affected Regional Sleeping Patterns
We also dug deep into the 16 countries where people use Samsung Health the most to see how sleep habits differed by region. While all 16 countries saw an increase in sleep duration, with people waking up later on average, the impact on sleep efficiency was mixed.
Region-specific changes in global sleeping habits can be seen as follows:
- While sleep duration remained the longest – both pre- and post-pandemic – in France, the country’s sleep efficiency decreased.
- Users in Korea recorded one of the biggest increases in sleep duration and efficiency during the pandemic, but still remained under the global average.
- The U.S. saw the biggest dip in sleep efficiency out of all the regions measured.
- While Germany saw the highest global sleep efficiency scores before the pandemic, it has since witnessed one of the most significant decreases in sleep efficiency.
- Argentina recorded the highest sleep efficiency following the start of the pandemic.
- While Indonesia was the region with the lowest sleep efficiency before the pandemic, this distinction now belongs to Vietnam. Furthermore, out of the 16 countries studied, Indonesia saw the highest increase in sleep efficiency from pre- to post-pandemic levels.
- Indonesia also saw a wake-up time delay of 11 minutes on average following the start of the pandemic. It was and remains the region recording the earliest wake -up times.
- Mexico is the region that has seen the biggest change in wake-up and sleep times. Going-to-bed time changed by 11 minutes on average, and wake-up time was delayed by 17 minutes.
How You Can Improve Your Sleep Quality
It is commonly stated that the average adult requires 8 hours of sleep per night. However, as the findings indicate, sleep quality may be an important factor to consider. Sleep tracking is one method for better understanding our sleep patterns and ensuring a good night’s sleep.
Many Galaxy customers take advantage of this, with half of Galaxy Watch users tracking their sleep at least weekly. 40% do it more than three times per week. Take a look at these Galaxy Watch series tips for better sleep management and consider adopting some to ensure each night of sleep is as restful as possible.
- Keep track of your sleep patterns: Sleep Score provides you with detailed data on when you enter deep sleep, REM sleep, and how your sleep and wake-up times vary.
- Understand your sleep quality better: With Blood Oxygen monitoring and Snore Detection, you can learn more about your sleep patterns as well as your overall health.
- Try a sleep training program: With Sleep Coaching, receive a tailored sleep guide program based on your actual habits, represented by one of eight dedicated sleep symbol animals, in order to help you understand and improve your sleep.
- Set up an ideal sleep environment: Given that where you sleep is just as important as how, consider adding an auto-setting on the temperature and light controls in your home to ensure the environment is ideal for rest.
The power behind your next best day, Samsung Health x Galaxy Watch5. Learn more here:
- Samsung Health: https://www.samsung.com/my/apps/samsung-health/
- Galaxy Watch5 Pro: https://www.samsung.com/my/watches/galaxy-watch/galaxy-watch5-pro-black-titanium-bluetooth-sm-r920nzkaxme/buy/
- Galaxy Watch5: https://www.samsung.com/my/watches/galaxy-watch/galaxy-watch5-40mm-silver-bluetooth-sm-r900nzsaxme/buy/
Samsung Health app download link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.android.app.shealth&hl=en&gl=US