[QUEST note:  aircraft noise disrupts sleep and is an important safety issue.]

Reuters Tuesday March 27 2:20 PM ET

U.S. Suffers 'Epidemic of Sleepiness,' Study Says

By Claire Soares

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are suffering from a serious sleep deficit while also cutting back on leisure activities and sex as they spend more time at work, the National Sleep Foundation said on Tuesday.

Nearly two-thirds of American adults do not get the nightly eight hours of sleep recommended for good health and optimum performance, the foundation's annual poll showed.

``Sleep is a health, safety and performance necessity, not a luxury and Americans are not getting enough of it,'' Ronald Krall, the foundation's president, told a news conference.

``There is an epidemic of sleepiness in our society,'' added James Walsh, the foundation's vice president.

Of 1,004 adults questioned, 43 percent reported sleeping less today than they did five years ago and 40 percent said they worked longer hours. The poll, conducted by WB&A Market Research, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

``There is a direct relationship between hours worked and its negative impact on sleep ... and the effects of sleep deprivation are cumulative,'' Walsh said.

Work was the only activity to which more people said they devoted longer hours than they did five years ago. About four in ten people said they worked at least a 50-hour week.

More interviewees said they had less sex now than in 1996. One third had sex less than once a week and were more sleepy than those having sex two or three times a week.

``People suffering from sleep disorders ... they are going to be de-energized, they are not going to feel any initiative and that's going to translate to a person's sex life,'' the sleep foundation's Richard Gelula told Reuters.

Sleep Problems Widespread

Nearly seven out of every 10 people who responded to the study experienced frequent sleep problems, including difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the night, feeling unrefreshed upon rising and snoring.

Adults with children and those not happy with their marriages were particularly susceptible to sleep disorders, the survey showed. Men snored more than women, but women were more liable to suffer from insomnia

Research also showed that those burning the candle at both ends may extinguish the flame early.

``How long you live is statistically related to the amount of sleep you obtain on average a night. The mortality rate is lowest for people who report sleeping seven to nine hours a night,'' Walsh said.

Even a single night of sleeping for five hours will dull a person's attention span and mental abilities, he added. And repeatedly sleeping for only four hours can aggravate conditions including hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

The poll found one in five adults suffers from fatigue that interferes with routine activities several times a week.

And sleeplessness can have life-threatening consequences. The foundation's latest TV ad says sleep-related accidents kill more than 1500 people every year.

Over 50 percent of Americans admitted driving while drowsy in the past 12 months -- figures broadly in line with last year. One percent said they had had an accident because they were too tired or had dozed off at the wheel. ''These numbers are not going to change for the better in the years to come unless we make sleep a higher priority in our lives,'' Walsh said.