Interrupted Sleep As Dangerous as Lack of Sleep, Study Finds

Rebecca Lewis July 11, 2014

Numerous studies highlight the importance of sleep, and experts suggest we don’t just make sure we are not sleeping less, but are not having interrupted sleep as well. In a new study published in the journal Sleep Medicine, researchers explained why interrupted sleep can be as physically detrimental as no sleep at all.

In the study, a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) establish a causal link between interrupted sleep patterns and compromised cognitive abilities, shortened attention spans, and negative moods.

They found that interrupted sleep is equivalent to no more than four consecutive hours of sleep.

“The sleep of many parents is often disrupted by external sources such as a crying baby demanding care during the night.

Doctors on call, who may receive several phone calls a night, also experience disruptions,” said Avi Sadeh, Ph.D., the lead investigator.

“These night wakings could be relatively short — only five to ten minutes — but they disrupt the natural sleep rhythm. The impact of such night wakings on an individual’s daytime alertness, mood, and cognitive abilities had never been studied.

The study was conducted on student volunteers at TAU’s School of Psychological Sciences. Sleep patterns of the participants were monitored at home using wristwatch-like devices that detected when they were asleep and when they were awake.

The students slept a normal eight-hour night, then experienced a night in which they were awakened four times by phone calls and told to complete a short computer task before going back to sleep after 10-15 minutes of wakefulness. Then, they were asked each following morning to complete certain computer tasks to assess alertness and attention, as well as to fill out questionnaires to determine their mood.

The experiment showed a direct link between compromised attention, negative mood, and disrupted sleep — after only one night of frequent interruptions.

“Our study shows the impact of only one disrupted night,” added Sadeh.

“But we know that these effects accumulate and therefore the functional price new parents — who awaken three to ten times a night for months on end — pay for common infant sleep disturbance is enormous.”

The researchers note that for the last 50 years, a majority of sleep research has focused on sleep deprivation, and practically ignored the impact of night-wakings, a pervasive phenomenon for people from many walks of life.

Besides the physical effects of interrupted sleep, parents often develop feelings of anger toward their infants and then feel guilty about these negative feelings.

Sadeh believes the new study will help scientists and clinicians recognize the price paid by individuals who have to endure frequent night-wakings. His new research involves evaluating interventions for infant sleep disturbances that may reduce the detrimental effects of disrupted sleep on parents.

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Interrupted Sleep Can Be As Harmful As No Sleep