Study: Southerners more sleep deprived

Where you live in the United States may influence how well you sleep, researchers report.

Southerners report the most sleep disturbances and daytime fatigue, while people in the West have the least, according to a new study that created state-by-state sleep maps for the United States.

University of Pennsylvania researchers created the maps using national data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Sleep disturbance is a major public health concern. However, geographic dispersion of sleep problems, and the factors that may play a role in why some states or regions get better sleep, have been largely unexplored," study author Michael Grandner, a research associate at Penn's Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, said.

"Our study generated the first sleep maps for the U.S. that include data on sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue across most of the country," he added.

Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia had the highest rates of sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue. The findings are consistent with previous research showing that many of the states with these higher rates also have higher rates of such conditions as obesity.

The researchers, using telephone survey data from more than 150,000 adults, determined that regional differences in mental health, race/ethnicity and access to medical care were the major reasons for the differences in sleep patterns among states.

The study was published online in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. -- HealthDay