One in three American adults have trouble sleeping or have poor quality sleep. This is a significant problem since sleep can affect so many areas of our mental and physical health. There are many factors that can impact our quality of sleep, but the team at NapLab decided to examine a specific and fascinating area: location. Their infographic used the team’s personal Sleep Quality Index to rate which state residents are getting the best quality sleep. Their infographic features a map color coding the states by their sleep quality.
The results show that South Dakota residents get the best quality sleep and West Virgina residents have the worst quality sleep. The team breaks down the factors they examined to create their sleep quality index. These factors included:
- Short Sleep Duration
- Depression
- Physical Fitness Rate
- Illicit Drug Use
- Alcohol Consumption
- Frequent Physical Distress
- Stress Score
- People Per Coffee Shop
As you can see, so many different factors impact sleep including caffeine, mental health, physical health, and stress levels. The map raises some questions too. North Dakota is a rural state. Does the quiet environment and lower light pollution create a better environment for sleep? Maybe, but West Virginia is generally rural as well. West Virginia also has high levels of poverty which can lead to higher stress levels, physical stress, and depression, all factors NapLab used in their sleep index. What do you think of your home state’s score? Do you and your friends get enough sleep? This infographic certainly gives us some food for thought.
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