Season 9, Episode 7 w Dr Hannah Scott: 11 million nights of sleep data, what can it tell us?

In this episode, I am joined by Dr Hannah Scott. We specifically discuss her recent work, “Are we getting enough sleep? Frequent irregular sleep was found in an analysis of over 11 million nights of objective in-home sleep data. In this study, data were analyzed from registered users of the Withings under-mattress Sleep Analyzer (predominantly located in Europe and North America) who had ≥28 nights of sleep recordings, averaging ≥4 per week. Sleep durations (the average and standard deviation) were assessed across a ∼9-month period. The sample consisted of 67,254 adults (52,523 males, 14,731 females; aged mean ± SD 50 ± 12 years). About 30% of adults demonstrated an average sleep duration outside the recommended 7-9 h/night. Even in participants with an average sleep duration within 7-9 hours, about 40% of nights were outside this range. Only 15% of participants slept between 7 and 9 hours for at least 5 nights per week.

You can read the full paper here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235272182300253X

We discuss

• Hannah’s background and interest in sleep
• The changing landscape of sleep research and the new integrated approach at Flinders
• We walk through the paper and the impact of such findings, including sex and age differences
• The Withings under mattress device and validation
• The data depiction and ease of understanding
• Sleep irregularity and other research findings such as irregular sleep and greater risk of hypertension
• Future research emerging from these findings
• Challenges with science communication and different spheres of expertise in sleep
• Sleep and dreams and the lack of knowledge in this space
• Any many more items

Hannah’s Bio: Dr Hannah Scott (BPsyc(Hons), PhD) is a Research Fellow at the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (FHMRI): Sleep Health investigating the use of digital technologies to better assess and manage sleep health and its disorders. At 3.5 years post-PhD, Dr Scott has authored 41 publications, 2 book chapters, and 9 successful research funding applications totalling over $2,000,000.

Dr Scott is a co-inventor of THIM, the first wearable device that tracks and treats chronic insomnia.  Dr. Scott is co-chair and co-founder of the Early Career Researcher Council of the Australasian Sleep Association (ASA), Australia’s peak sleep advocacy body.

She has received multiple awards, including the Flinders University Vice-Chancellor's Early Career Researcher Award, the ASA New Investigator Award, and the International Society of Behavioural Sleep Medicine Fellow Rising Star Award. She was also a Finalist in the Young Innovator Category of the Women in Innovation Awards.

https://researchnow.flinders.edu.au/en/persons/hannah-scott

Contact Hannah: hannah.scott@flinders.edu.au

For further inquiries, contact me at iandunican@sleep4performance.com.au  or visit www.sleep4performance.com.au.