A quarter of UAE residents said work-related stress is the main factor behind poor sleep, closely followed by financial stress (21 percent), according to research commissioned by international health insurance arm Bupa Global ahead of World Sleep Day on March 17.
Furthermore, the report found 60 percent of UAE residents get at least one to two nights of poor sleep per week, with 13 percent of respondents reporting fewer than five hours of sleep each night and just 12 percent getting the recommended eight hours sleep or more each night.
About 30 percent said Saturday, the night before starting work, is the night when they get the worst sleep of the week.
Sleep experts from Bupa Cromwell Hospital have advised UAE residents to address sleep-related issues to prevent risks associated with lack of sleep, such as insomnia, which affects about a third of the global population at some point in their lifetime, according to Dr Fiona McAndrew, General Practitioner at the London based hospital.
While most adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep a night, many experience difficulty falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, frequent waking, early morning waking and difficulty getting back to sleep, McAndrew said.
Ana Noia, Senior Clinical Physiologist in Neurophysiology and Sleep at the hospital also said people who do not sleep well often complain of bad memory and attention problems as well as general fatigue and lack of energy. She said lack of sleep can even lead to immune deficiency and increased risk of cardiovascular problems.
The research was conducted by YouGov omnibus survey with a sample size of 1001 during the period between February and March 2017.
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