Sleep and quality of well-being

Background: It is commonly believed that sleep duration in the population h as been declining gradually. Whereas sleep restriction in the laboratory in duces sleepiness and mood disturbances, it is not certain whether a short s leep duration impairs the quality of everyday life. Methods: Using population-based data, we explored whether greater habitual sleep duration is a predictor of better health-related quality of life, mea sured by the Quality of Well-Being (QWB) scale. The relationships between Q WB and several potential correlates were examined in a stepwise linear regr ession analysis. Results: Neither subjective nor actigraphic sleep duration were associated with QWB. Greater quality of well-being was associated with greater sleep s atisfaction, younger age, less obesity, non-Hispanic White ethnicity, and g reater experienced illumination. Conclusion: These data suggest that increasing sleep duration may not direc tly improve quality of life, despite evidence that curtailment of nocturnal sleep is associated with fatigue.