93% deprived of sleep, 11% fall asleep at work: Study

Ninety three percent Indians are sleep deprived and get less than the eight hours of mandatory sleep required for good health while 11 percent actually fall asleep at work, says a latest survey.

Eleven percent Indians took leave from work because of lack of sleep, according to the survey commissioned by Philips Electronics India Limited.

The survey conducted by Nielsen company in November 2009, covered 5,600 respondents in the 35-65 age group across 25 cities in urban India with a population of five lakh plus.

Fifty eight percent of the respondents felt that their work was impacted due to lack of adequate sleep with 11 percent falling asleep at work.

74 percent woke up anywhere between one to three times during their sleep. Reasons for waking up were need to answer call of nature (90 percent), stress at work (15 percent) and noise outside the home (10 percent).

Sixty two per cent of those surveyed displayed high risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a condition characterised by repeated cessation of breathing during sleep and which can potentially lead to heart diseases and worsen heart failure.