Sex differences in sleep health

Evaluating the Feasibility and Acceptability of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Rural Women

“…6 Roughly a third of women report insomnia, and the percentage impacted by insomnia increases with age. 5 Because insomnia is associated with a host of negative health outcomes, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, increased interventional and translational approaches are particularly important for women who are members of health disparity populations. 5,6 Appalachian women represent a unique intervention target due to a confluence of factors.…”

“…5 Because insomnia is associated with a host of negative health outcomes, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, increased interventional and translational approaches are particularly important for women who are members of health disparity populations. 5,6 Appalachian women represent a unique intervention target due to a confluence of factors. They are disproportionately affected by insufficient sleep 12 and their biopsychosocial characteristics (e.g., female sex, older age, high depression rates) intersect with cultural (e.g., strong self-reliance norms) and regional (e.g., limited transportation) factors that complicate their treatment trajectories.…”

“…[2][3][4] About 33%-36% of premenopausal women report insomnia and rates are even higher (44%-61%) in postmenopausal women. 5 This study answers the call to implement, adapt, and evaluate evidence-based interventions addressing insufficient sleep in women. 6 Such research is particularly critical for women who, by virtue of their geographic location, race/ethnicity, low socioeconomic status, high disease rates, and/or rural status, are members of health disparity populations.…”

“…[7][8][9] Thus, we focus on women in the Appalachian region of the United States, an area with high rates of poverty, health care shortages, morbidity, and mortality, and target the age group (45+ years) most likely to be diagnosed with and treated for insomnia. 4,5,10,11 Although insufficient sleep is differentially distributed across the United States, a recent analysis of county-level data found that the central region within Appalachia, specifically 84 counties traversing Eastern Kentucky, Western West Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, Western Virginia, and Southern Ohio, has the highest aggregation of reported insomnia ''hotspots'' in the nation. In these counties, 25%-58% of adults report insufficient sleep 15+ nights out of 30.…”

Social-ecological considerations for the sleep health of rural mothers

“…Sleep health comprises parameters such as duration, continuity, and timing, which are strongly linked to health and well-being (Buysse 2014). Although epidemiological studies indicate little variance between women and men in obtaining sufficient sleep (Grandner 2019), women generally experience greater risk for insomnia (Petrov et al 2014) and report greater sleep disturbances and worse sleep quality than men (Wang et al 2018), particularly during life transitional phases with reproductive hormonal change (Meers et al 2019). Anticipated physiological and psychosocial changes associated with the perinatal period (before and after childbirth) challenge the maintenance of sleep health across pregnancy, immediate postpartum, and the early years of motherhood (Christian et al 2019).…”