Reducing health disparities: the role of sleep deficiency and sleep disorders

• Sleep health measures differ by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position.
• The multilevel etiology of disparities in sleep health is not well understood.
• Sleep deficiency is associated with conditions burdened by health disparities.
• Research is needed to elucidate the contribution of sleep to health disparities.
• Surveillance tools and cohorts are available to study sleep-related disparities.

Decrements in sleep health, including insufficient sleep duration, irregular timing of sleep, poor sleep quality, and sleep/circadian disorders, are widespread in modern society and are associated with an array of disease risks and outcomes, including those contributing to health disparities (eg, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, psychiatric illness, and cancer). Recent findings have uncovered racial/ethnic and socioeconomic position differences in sleep health; however, the contribution of sleep deficiency to health disparities remains largely unexplored, and understanding the underlying causes of disparities in sleep health is only beginning to emerge. In 2011, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a workshop, bringing together sleep and health disparities investigators, to identify research gaps and opportunities to advance sleep and health disparities science. This article provides a brief background and rationale for the workshop, and it disseminates the research recommendations and priorities resulting from the working group discussions.