Sec. 791. Short title; findings

480 words·~2 min read·/bill/115/s/3660/is/section-791

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

This subtitle may be cited as the . Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Disorders Health Disparities Act Congress finds the following: Decrements in sleep health such as sleep apnea, insufficient sleep time, and insomnia, affect 50,000,000 to 70,000,000 adults in the United States. Twelve to eighteen million United States adults have sleep apnea, a chronic disorder characterized by one or more pauses in breathing which can last from a few seconds to minutes. They may occur 30 times or more an hour, disrupting sleep and resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness and loss in productivity.

Seventy percent of high school students are not getting enough sleep on school nights, while 33 percent of people in the United States get fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night, and roughly 6,000 fatal motor vehicle crashes are caused by drowsy drivers. Insufficient sleep and insomnia are more prevalent in women. Women who are pregnant and have sleep apnea are at an increased risk of cardiovascular complications during pregnancy. The impact of disparities in sleep health is associated with a growing number of health problems, including the following:

Hypertension. Cancer. Stroke. Cardiac arrhythmia. Chronic heart failure and heart disease. Diabetes. Cognitive functioning and behavior. Depression and bipolar disorder. Substance abuse. A sleep disparity exists in that poor sleep quality is strongly associated with poverty and race. Factors such as employment, education, and health status, amongst others, significantly mediated this effect only in poor subjects, suggesting a differential vulnerability to these factors in poor relative to nonpoor individuals in the context of sleep quality.

African Americans sleep worse than Caucasian Americans. African Americans take longer to fall asleep, report poorer sleep quality, have more light and less deep sleep, and nap more often and longer. African Americans and individuals in lower socioeconomic status groups may be at an increased risk for sleep disturbances and associated health consequences. Among young African Americans, the likelihood of having sleep disordered breathing and exhibiting risk factors for poor sleep is twice that in young Caucasians.

Frequent snoring is more common among African-American and Hispanic women and Hispanic men compared to non-Hispanic Caucasians, independent of other factors including obesity. African Americans with sleep-disordered breathing develop symptoms at a younger age than Caucasians but appear less likely to be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner. This delay may at least in part be due to reduced access to care. Sleep loss contributes to increased risk for chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, all of which have increased prevalence in underserved, underrepresented minorities.

Racial and ethnic disparities related to obesity may also contribute to disparities in health outcomes related to sleep-disordered breathing. Non-Caucasian adults report an insomnia rate of 12.9 percent compared to only 6.6 percent for Caucasians. African-American women have a higher incidence of insomnia than African-American men, perhaps related in part to higher risk for chronic persisting symptoms.