Perceived Racial Discrimination as an Independent Predictor of Sleep Disturbance and Daytime Fatigue

Michael Grandner, University of Pennsylvania
Lauren Hale, Stony Brook University, State University of New York (SUNY)
Nicholas Jackson, University of Pennsylvania
Nirav Patel, Respiratory Specialists, and Reading Hospital and Medical Center
Nalaka Gooneratne, University of Pennsylvania
Wendy Troxel, University of Pittsburgh

Perceived discrimination is a potential cause of racial and ethnic disparities in health. One direct mechanism through which perceived discrimination may affect health is by impeding quality sleep. We investigate the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2006, with 7,148 adults from Michigan and Wisconsin. Sleep Disturbance and Daytime Fatigue were reported in 19% and 21%, respectively. Black respondents (21%) report perceiving worse experience compared to people of other races when seeking health care at higher rates than white respondents (3%). Our results from logistic regression models show that perceived racial discrimination is associated with increased risks of sleep disturbance (OR=2.61, p<.001) and daytime fatigue (OR=2.09, p<.001), whereas significant differences do not exist for blacks vs. whites. Future work on racial differences in sleep should investigate discrimination as a pathway through which racial differences in sleep exist.