What we do in bed

Heat and worries rob Austrians of sleep

Household duties and family tasks affect the quality of sleep for more than half (56.4 percent) of women and 40.7 percent of men.

(Bild: ©terovesalainen - stock.adobe.com)

The majority of people in Austria get just enough sleep with an average of seven hours per night. Men in particular suffer from the high temperatures that disturb their sleep (60.1 percent). Women, on the other hand, complain more about worries and brooding (53 percent) and snoring (36.4 percent).

The survey* shows that the quality of sleep could be significantly improved. The hot summer has made sleep more difficult for many: almost 70 percent stated that they slept less well on tropical nights. Over a fifth of respondents stated that they generally slept poorly to very poorly.

Awake briefly up to 30 times every night
"When people subjectively say that they sleep seven hours a night, this is often not actually the time they spend asleep, but rather the time they spend in bed - because short periods of waking up, which everyone has at night, are not even perceived as such," says Salzburg sleep researcher Manuel Schabus. Many people wake up briefly up to 30 times during the night, which often reduces the net sleep time by 20 to 40 minutes.

Our studies usually show that people only sleep an average of 6.5 hours per night - for me, the data even suggests that the majority of Austrian society suffers from slight sleep deprivation.

Schlafforscher Manuel Schabus

Men sleep better after cuddling and sex
Falling asleep is easy for more than half of those surveyed, but difficult for almost one in three (27 percent). Men sleep particularly well on vacation (35 percent), after a strenuous day at work (34.7 percent) or after sport (31.4 percent). 29.2 percent of men stated that they sleep very well after intimacy with their partner (women: 16.8 percent).

Heat, worries, noise rob us of sleep
The most common negative influencing factors are high temperatures (56.7 percent), brooding and worries (47.6 percent) and noise (31.7 percent). In addition, household chores and family tasks impair the quality of sleep for more than half (56.4 percent) of women and 40.7 percent of men.

In principle, bed should only be associated with sleeping and one's own sexuality - all other activities that are otherwise carried out in bed have a disruptive effect on sleep quality.

Manuel Schabus

Twelve percent eat in bed
The most popular activities in the bedroom outside of sleep include intimacy (54.7 percent), reading (45.4 percent), the smartphone (43.6 percent), television (36.4 percent) and listening to music (27.8 percent). More than twelve percent also state that they often eat in their bedroom. Only 10.4 percent use their bed exclusively for sleeping.

80 percent stated that they sleep with the window open either all year round or at least during the warmer months. Two thirds change their bed linen at least every two weeks.

*For the IKEA sleep study "This is how Austria sleeps", Marketagent surveyed 3025 people aged 18 to 75 in June and July.