A new study reveals that having pets, such as dogs or cats, can cause sleep disturbances in people who live with them
The investigation, published in the journal Human-Animal Interactions and directed by researchers at Lincoln Memorial University (USA), focused specifically on pet ownership with data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) in the years 2005-2006.
The main author, Dr. Wisnieski, found that owning a dog was associated with an increased chance of having a sleep disorder and having trouble sleeping, while owning a cat was associated with an increased chance of restless legs syndrome, which also affects sleep quality. .
Although the causal nature of pet ownership on sleep quality and sleep disturbances cannot be established, the study results are consistent with previous studies that have found that pet ownership has a negative impact on sleep quality. .
According to scientists, on the one hand, dogs and cats can be beneficial for their owners’ sleep quality due to the social support they provide: pets offer a sense of security and companionship that can improve levels of anxiety, stress and depression. However, on the other hand, pets can disrupt their owners’ sleep.
The research looked at variables such as feeling sleepless, drowsiness during the day, not getting enough sleep, taking longer than 15 minutes to fall asleep, and sleeping less than six hours on average. The study suggests that the differences between the quality and appropriateness of sleep in cats and dogs may be because cats tend to be more active at night. Furthermore, he found that there were fewer differences in sleep quality indicators between cat owners and non-cat ownerscompared to dog owners and non-dog owners.
These results can help clinicians make recommendations to improve their patients’ sleep quality and guide them on what to do, such as locking the pet or restricting access to the bedroom at night. While the study acknowledges that there may be potential positive effects of sleeping with a pet, the analyzed database did not specify whether owners actually slept with their dog or cat, so no conclusions can be drawn in this regard.
REFERENCE
The association of pet ownership and sleep quality and sleep disturbances in US adults