Should healthcare professionals be concerned about the quality of sleep their patients have?

Abstract

Population surveys conducted in many countries, including the United Kingdom, reported participant self-declared insufficient sleep levels. In 2017, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced sleep deprivation to be a public health problem. Sleep is essential to maintain life and the restriction of sleep time was postulated to have a negative impact on the cognitive function, metabolism and the immune system. Sleep pattern alterations are associated with an increased risk of depression, type II diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and carcinogenesis. Both acute and chronic sleep deprivation, as well as circadian rhythm dysregulation, can lead to adverse health consequences. Moreover, there is a number of prevalent sleep conditions, including insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) which need early diagnosis and appropriate treatment. This essay briefly outlines current theories of the function of sleep and summarises pathologies arising from sleep pattern alterations to argue that it is essential for the healthcare professionals to address their patients’ sleep hygiene and detect sleep conditions early in order to improve health outcomes.