Examining Sleep Duration and Sleep Health Among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Adults: Findings From NHANES (2005-2014)

Objectives: This study proposed to examine sexual identity differences in sleep duration and sleep health (use of sleep medications or sedatives, trouble sleeping, and diagnosis of sleeping disorders) among American adults. Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005-2014) were used. Sex-stratified multiple logistic regression models were used to compare sleep duration and sleep health between sexual minority (gay/lesbian, bisexual, not-sure) and heterosexual participants, adjusted for predetermined covariates. Heterosexual participants were the reference group. Results: The analytic sample included 16,332 participants. No differences in sleep duration or sleep health were detected when gay and bisexual men were compared to heterosexual men. Not-sure men had significantly higher rates of adequate sleep duration than heterosexual men (aOR 2.35 [1.16-4.79]. Compared to heterosexual women, bisexual women reported higher rates of short sleep duration (aOR 1.29 [95% CI = 1.01-1.65]). Bisexual women were also more likely than heterosexual women to use sleep medication or sedatives (aOR 1.85 [95% CI = 1.19-2.88]), to have ever told a health professional they had trouble sleeping (aOR 1.64 [95% CI = 1.15-2.34), and to have been told by a health professional they had a sleeping disorder (aOR 2.38 [95% CI = 1.50-3.80). Lesbian and not-sure women exhibited no differences in sleep duration or sleep health compared to heterosexual women. Conclusions: Findings suggest there is a need to promote sleep health and further investigate sleeping disorders among bisexual women. Additional research should incorporate objective measures of sleep health and examine whether sleep health is associated with chronic disease in sexual minorities.