Sleep hygiene awareness: its relation to sleep quality and diurnal preference

BACKGROUND: Sleep hygiene is a core component for psychological treatments of insomnia and essential for maintaining a satisfactory sleep. Our study aimed to measure the sleep hygiene awareness and the self-reported quality of sleep among three age groups (young adults, adults and middle-aged adults) and to determine their relation. We also measured their relation with diurnal preference. METHODS: Using an online questionnaire, we surveyed six hundred fifty two participants, recruited nationwide from the community and from the students in three main cities in Romania. RESULTS: Sleep hygiene awareness was moderate on the whole and significantly worse in young adults (compared to the other age groups) and in those complaining of poor sleep (compared to those with good sleep). Sleep quality was average and linked positively with diurnal preference (the more evening oriented, the poorer the sleep). Diurnal preference was not found to play a role regarding sleep hygiene awareness. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that better sleep hygiene awareness does not necessarily guarantee better sleep quality and that it may actually be an indicator of dissatisfaction with the obtained sleep. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40303-015-0008-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.