Research by Discovery Health has confirmed that not only does insufficient sleep harm your health but it also dents your wallet, with three years of data suggesting that people who have irregular sleep patterns and get less than seven hours a night face a 22% higher mortality risk than the general population.
BusinessLIVE reports that Discovery now plans to launch a personalised programme, and a wearable sleep-tracking smart ring, to encourage Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) members to improve their shut-eye and also reduce their healthcare bills.
“People have a lot of choice and agency around their sleep,” said Ron Whelan, CEO of medical scheme administrator Discovery Health, which counts DHMS among its clients. He added that the regularity of a person’s bedtime, sleeping environment, exposure to stimulating blue light from screens and consumption of stimulants like caffeine and alcohol are all within their control.
The scheme’s new programme is built on information gleaned from the anonymised sleep records, exercise activity and health claims of 105 000 DHMS members who had signed up to Discovery's incentive scheme Vitality. The analysis drew on 47m nights of sleep, recorded by wearable devices, over a three-year period.
By numbers:
• 22% higher mortality risk for people sleeping less than seven hours per night;
• 105 000 DHMS members whose anonymised sleep, activity, and claims data were analysed;
• 47m nights of sleep recorded over three years;
• Less than six hours/night increases health risks;
- 1.7× higher risk of diabetes;
- 1.3× higher risk of ischaemic heart disease;
- 1.2× higher risk of moderate to severe depression;
- 24% mortality risk reduction with improved sleep; and
- • 7% potential reduction in annual in-hospital claims if sleep habits improve.
It found people who slept fewer than six hours per night were 1.7 times more likely to develop diabetes, 1.3 times more likely to develop ischaemic heart disease and 1.2 times more likely to have symptoms of moderate to severe depression, findings which are broadly in line with international research on the links between sleep and health.
Cumulative effects of poor sleep
The longer poor sleep persisted, the worse the effects were, said Discovery Health’s Chief Actuary Emile Stipp.
“If you have poor sleep on one (night), it affects your risk of having a car accident the next day, for instance. If you have bad sleep for a week it increases your hunger hormones — that means your risk of gaining weight (increases).
“After a month, it increases your blood glucose levels, your blood pressure, anxiety and depression. After six months, you have impaired immunity, memory, focus and increased hypertension, and after two years, you have an increased risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease.”
Better sleep cuts risks and bills
While poor sleep increased health risks and hospital admissions, the converse was also true, said Whelan.
Improving sleep reduced mortality risk by 24%, according to Discovery’s research.
And improving the sleep habits of DHMS members, including sleep duration, regularity and the amount of deep and REM sleep could potentially reduce annual in-hospital claims by 7%, said Stipp.
Vitality already offers a personalised programme that incentives members to take steps to improve their health, like exercising more and getting regular check-ups if they have chronic diseases, and next year it will add sleep to the programme, offering rewards as people achieve their sleep goals.
It will expand the sleep-tracking options available to members by incorporating this function into its app, and will add a smart ring to the wearable devices it currently supports.
BusinessLIVE article – Discovery focuses on sleep to reduce members’ bills
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Sleep disruption linked to electronic devices – US study
Regular sleep patterns as important as sufficient sleep
Screens in bed worse for sleep – New Zealand study