Brain Sleep Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Kosuke Michibata; hereinafter "Brain Sleep") conducted its "Sleep Deviation Score" 2021 survey, following on from 2020. This survey targeted 10,000 people across all 47 prefectures (allocated by gender, age, and prefecture) and not only included items that directly assess individual sleep habits and sleep status, but also productivity, stress levels, and the risk of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS). We will utilize the results of this survey to conduct various activities aimed at resolving sleep issues, taking into account the current situation where sleep tends to be unstable. [Survey Results Summary] Brain Sleep has been developing "Sleep Deviation Score®" from various sleep measures to understand the actual sleep situation of Japanese people and to offer health management services for corporate employees. This time, the 2021 edition of the Sleep Deviation Score was measured, and the following five new items revealed characteristics of sleep among Japanese people: ① Changes in average sleep time in Japan ② Relationship between telework frequency and sleep quality ③ Relationship between immunity and sleep - Sleep Deviation Score by symptom (cold, influenza, COVID-19) ④ Trends in Sleep Deviation Score by industry and age group ⑤ Prefectural ranking of Sleep Deviation Score ① Average sleep time in Japan: Sleep debt, which was trending towards collapse, is now showing improvement. Brain Sleep's survey last year found that the average sleep time in Japan was 6 hours and 27 minutes. This was 55 minutes shorter than the OECD data, which identified Japan as having the shortest sleep time in the world. This year's survey revealed that the average sleep time in Japan is 6 hours and 43 minutes, an increase of 16 minutes from last year. While this is a significant step towards improvement in Japan's sleep time, the average sleep time in OECD member countries is 8 hours and 25 minutes, meaning there is still a difference of 1 hour and 42 minutes compared to Japan's average sleep time this year. Furthermore, only 40% of people exceeded the recommended minimum sleep time of 7 hours. Brain Sleep will continue to actively promote the importance of securing a minimum amount of sleep and conduct educational activities to further extend the average sleep time in Japan. ② Relationship between telework and sleep quality: Irregular working styles may reduce sleep quality. The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant changes to people's lives, including work styles, with the rapid spread of "telework" as a new form of employment being a major characteristic. A survey conducted by Brain Sleep in April 2020 revealed that the spread of telework due to COVID-19 led to a general shift towards a later, nocturnal lifestyle, disrupting daily and sleep rhythms, and resulting in a decline in sleep quality. This current survey, in relation to "telework," revealed a new trend in sleep quality. An analysis of the relationship between the presence/frequency of telework and sleep quality found that the sleep quality of "people who telework almost every day" and "people who have never teleworked at all" was significantly higher than that of people in other working arrangements. In particular, the poorest sleep quality was observed in "people who telework 1-2 times a week." This result suggests that whether one can live with a consistent rhythm every day is more important for sleep quality than the presence or absence of telework itself. * Error bars represent standard error. ③ Relationship between Immunity and Sleep - Sleep Deviation Score by Symptom (Common Cold, Influenza, COVID-19) As seen in the previous section, the novel coronavirus has raged worldwide since 2020, significantly changing people's lifestyles and having a major impact on sleep. On the other hand, this survey revealed that differences in people's sleep states may be strongly related to changes in their physical condition during the pandemic. Comparing the Sleep Deviation Scores of people who experienced illness/felt unwell due to the common cold, influenza, or novel coronavirus between January 2020 and the end of January 2021, and those who did not, it was found that those who felt unwell had significantly lower Sleep Deviation Scores. In particular, people suspected of having the novel coronavirus, and among them, those who underwent hotel recuperation, showed particularly low Sleep Deviation Scores. While this Sleep Deviation Score only measures current values and does not indicate a causal relationship between past year's illness and Sleep Deviation Score, it is possible that people who experienced illness/felt unwell had reduced immunity, and that this led to lower Sleep Deviation Scores due to underlying sleep problems. ④ Trends in Sleep Deviation Scores by Industry and Age Group We categorized the survey participants by industry and age group and examined the average Sleep Deviation Score for each category. Focusing on specific age groups, only one industry had a deviation score above 50 for people in their 20s, while all other industries had an average deviation score below 50. Conversely, for people in their 50s and 60s, all but one industry exceeded the average. Looking at the average scores across all age groups by industry, it was found that people working in the "media and advertising" industry had the lowest average Sleep Deviation Score at 47.89. Following closely were people in the "trading company" industry, which often involves time differences. It is also noteworthy that there was a significant difference in Sleep Deviation Scores for "media and advertising" by generation. While the Sleep Deviation Score for those in their 50s and 60s in "media and advertising" was the highest among all categories at 52.63, the scores for those in their 20s and 30s-40s were 46.58 and 46.76 respectively, making them the lowest among all categories. In some industries, people are forced to work night shifts or reverse day and night, making it impossible to get high-quality sleep and inevitably accumulating sleep debt daily. It is also likely that some industries had to undergo significant changes in their work styles due to the new coronavirus, and it is believed that these industries have also experienced a significant impact on their Sleep Deviation Scores. We plan to conduct further detailed analysis on these points to clarify the impact on different occupations. ⑤ Prefectural Ranking of Sleep Deviation Score: 1st Mie Prefecture, 47th Tokushima Prefecture Similar to last year's results, there was no significant difference in Sleep Deviation Scores between the 1st and 47th ranked prefectures (1st Mie Prefecture at 51.16 / 47th Tokushima Prefecture at 48.47), indicating that sleep problems among Japanese people are a nationwide issue. As a characteristic of Japan as a whole, sleep duration increased in 46 out of 47 prefectures, while sleep habits, which contribute to sleep quality, worsened in 29 prefectures. This suggests a potential disruption of pre-sleep routines due to the impact of the novel coronavirus. Looking at the prefectural breakdown, Mie Prefecture, ranked 1st nationwide, showed improvement in all items comprising the Sleep Deviation Score compared to last year, particularly scoring higher than other prefectures in sleep habits. On the other hand, Tokushima Prefecture, which ranked last, showed longer sleep duration, but all other items were within the bottom 5. Specifically, it ranked last in both sleep quality and daytime performance (productivity). Sleep Deviation Score® Survey Results Page https://brain-sleep.com/sleep-deviation/research2021/ Brain Sleep can provide various information regarding this survey. Comment by Seiji Nishino / Founder & Chief Research Advisor of Brain Sleep, Author of "Stanford's Best Sleep" Following last year's survey, several interesting results have emerged. The poorest sleep quality was observed in "people who telework 1-2 times a week." Given that people who telework almost every day and those who have never teleworked at all had good sleep quality, it is likely that regular routines are essential for ensuring sleep quality, and those who telework irregularly may have found it difficult to maintain a consistent rhythm of life. Furthermore, particularly low Sleep Deviation Scores were found in individuals who experienced health issues related to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 or influenza, those suspected of having COVID-19, and especially those who underwent hotel recuperation among them. In the US, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, seasonal influenza caused an estimated 20,000 to 60,000 deaths annually, and in relation to countermeasures, results emphasizing that sufficient and good quality sleep prevents colds and influenza infections have been highlighted. It is interesting that similar results were obtained in Japan this time, and especially during the pandemic, it is considered important to enhance immunity by striving for a regular lifestyle, maintaining a consistent rhythm, and getting good quality sleep. Even with the start of vaccination, this mindset remains equally important, as sufficient sleep may be necessary for antibody production even after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, and inadequate prevention of infection may still be possible. What is Sleep Deviation Score®? When evaluating sleep, attention is often focused solely on simple quantitative data such as sleep duration. However, Brain Sleep believes that it is crucial to evaluate sleep from a more multifaceted and comprehensive perspective. Therefore, we developed a set of questions that quantitatively assess subjective sleep evaluation from a wide range of viewpoints, including subjective symptoms related to sleep and sleep habits. Furthermore, by converting these into a numerical "deviation score" familiar to Japanese people, we have constructed a system that allows for understanding the relative sleep state within the entire Japanese population. This is the "Sleep Deviation Score®." Currently, in partnership with NTT East as an innovation partner, we are offering "Sleep Deviation Score for Biz," a health management service for corporations. This service visualizes the "engagement" between employees and the company from their "sleep" and, by comparing it with the nationwide Sleep Deviation Score, enables the discovery of previously unhighlighted issues within the company, thereby improving presenteeism. Survey Overview Survey Method: Web survey Target Region: Nationwide Target Subjects: Male and female Sample Size: n=10,000ss Survey Period: January 2021 * For comparisons of Sleep Deviation Scores and other scores between groups, t-tests were conducted, and a significance level of 5% or less was determined as a statistically significant difference. * The survey was conducted with some changes to the target subjects and survey items compared to last year.
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