A new study has revealed healthcare professionals to be the most sleep deprived profession who get getting on average just 4 hours and 15 minutes’ sleep a night, followed by those working in law enforcement at 4 and a half hours sleep and teaching staff at just 4 hours and 35 minutes per night.
The amount Briton gets on a nightly basis very much depends on their job, a new study suggests. Healthcare professionals find themselves getting the least amount of sleep, while those in hair and beauty manage to get more than double.
The study was carried out by interiors specialist www.hillarys.co.uk as part of ongoing research into Britons sleeping habits. 4,596 Britons aged 18 and over, all of whom stated that they have a full-time job, were quizzed about the industry that they work in and how much sleep they estimate that they’re able to get.
Initially all respondents were asked ‘Do you think you get enough sleep each night?’ to which just 1 in 10 Britons (11%) stated that ‘yes’ they do, with the remaining 89% revealing that they believe they get less sleep than they need.
Researchers then asked respondents how much sleep they get on average in a night. With respondents having already stated what industry they worked in, the answers were separated by industry. The following five industries emerged to be those that receive the most sleep:
- Hair and beauty – 9 hours 40 minutes (average amount of sleep per night)
- Telemarketers – 8 hours 45 minutes
- Insurance – 8 hours 20 minutes
- Retail – 8 hours 15 minutes
- Construction – 8 hours 10 minutes
The following five industries were revealed to be those that receive the least amount of sleep:
- Healthcare – 4 hours 15 minutes (average amount of sleep per night)
- Law enforcement – 4 hours 30 minutes
- Teaching – 4 hours 35 minutes
- Journalists – 4 hours 50 minutes
- Hospitality – 5 hours
Furthermore, all respondents were asked what they thought kept them up at night, with ‘stress’ (44%) and ‘high caffeine consumption’ (19%) revealed as the most common reasons for sleep evasion.
When participants were asked if they believed they have had any issues with their health due to their sleeping pattern, over half (52%) felt that ‘yes’ they do.
Finally, all respondents were asked if they had ever attempted to do anything to improve their sleeping pattern, with only one fifth of respondents (23%) stating that they had, revealing that they had ‘attempted adjusting the nightly routine’ (24%), ‘changed’ their diet (22%), ‘tried yoga’ (12%), ‘spoken to a manager’ (10%) and used ‘sleeping aids’ (9%).
Tara Hall, spokesperson for www.hillarys.co.uk, made the following comments: “Sleep is so important to our health and there’s lots we can do to create the right environment to encourage a good night’s sleep, from choosing the right bed to getting the room dark with properly fitting and light reducing window dressings.”
