Researchers from the American Academy of Neurology have clarified how the shift from summer time to standard time and the changing seasons can disrupt a person’s sleep. The findings show meaningful, short term disturbances in sleep patterns linked to the seasonal clock change. The results appear in the journal Neurology.
The study followed a large cohort of thirty thousand adults who regularly answered questions about how long they slept, how satisfied they were with their sleep, daytime sleepiness, and how easily they drifted off to sleep. Participants completed surveys multiple times a year, with data collected both one week before and one week after the seasonal clock changes.
Analysts observed that switching from daylight saving time to standard time raised several sleep concerns. Sleep dissatisfaction rose by roughly one third, daytime sleepiness and trouble initiating sleep more than doubled, and the overall difficulty in achieving restful nights increased by about sixty four percent. In contrast, the shift to daylight saving time did not show the same negative impact on sleep health.
When it comes to total sleep duration, results were less variable across the year. The data showed only small differences tied to the season. Individuals who responded during the summer recorded an average of about 6.7 hours of sleep per night. In winter the average edged up slightly to roughly 6.8 hours. The overall pattern suggests that while the clock change meaningfully affects perceived sleep quality and ease of sleeping, the total nightly sleep time changes only modestly with the seasons. These insights help explain why many people notice sleep disturbances around the clock changes even when the total time spent asleep remains fairly constant. Attribution: Neurology journal, American Academy of Neurology.