Learning is key to good night's sleep
LOUISE GRAY
A NEW scientific study claims that a good education is linked to a good night's sleep - so long as you are a woman.
The research found better-educated women are less likely to suffer from insomnia - but a well-educated man is more likely to have trouble sleeping.
Globally, women are up to twice as likely to be insomniac as men, according to the findings published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Dr Ying-Yeh Chen, of the Taipei City Psychiatric Centre in Taiwan, set out to find if social factors could be blamed for the difference. He said: "[They] play their part, but do not fully explain these differences."
The study of almost 40,000 Taiwanese people aged over 15 examined marital status, employment/occupation, educational attainment, household income and the number of family members under 15.
Insomnia was assessed using criteria developed by the World Health Organisation and scored on a scale of 1 to 5.
Overall, insomnia tended to be more common among those who were older, divorced or separated, had low educational attainment, poor health or low income.
Having children living at home also increased the rates of insomnia.
The findings applied to both sexes, but rates of insomnia were still significantly higher among women, who averaged 1.22 points more. Sex differences were most noticeable for divorced or separated women.
Dr Chen said: "The stress associated with single parenthood, loss of income or the stigma of a marriage break-down could all be possible factors. Unemployment also exerted a greater impact on women's sleep quality - particularly married women. Sex discrimination in the workplace and childcare responsibilities could account for this.
"The sex discrepancy in insomnia narrowed slightly after taking social factors into consideration, but was not [fully] explained. The persistent sex gap in insomnia warrants further investigation."
Dr Irshaad Ebrahim, of the London Sleep Centre, said women suffer insomnia more than men for biological reasons, because pregnant women are likely to have difficultly sleeping.
He said better-educated women tend to sleep better because they often have greater financial stability, but better-educated men often work in high-pressure jobs and so are less able to sleep well.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=565792005
On the other hand, my wife graduated from high school, nursing school and college with honors, and she has a heck of a time trying to sleep.
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