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Sleepless night, the moon is bright: longitudinal study of lunar phase and sleep
Author(s) -
RÖÖSLI MARTIN,
JÜNI PETER,
BRAUNFAHRLÄNDER CHARLOTTE,
BRINKHOF MARTIN W. G.,
LOW NICOLA,
EGGER MATTHIAS
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of sleep research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2869
pISSN - 0962-1105
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2006.00520.x
Subject(s) - full moon , new moon , sleep (system call) , phase (matter) , psychology , astrobiology , history , astronomy , physics , computer science , operating system , quantum mechanics
Summary Popular belief holds that the lunar cycle affects human physiology, behaviour and health. We examined the influence of moon phase on sleep duration in a secondary analysis of a feasibility study of mobile telephone base stations and sleep quality. We studied 31 volunteers (18 women and 13 men, mean age 50 years) from a suburban area of Switzerland longitudinally over 6 weeks, including two full moons. Subjective sleep duration was calculated from sleep diary data. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression models with random effects. Mean sleep duration was 6 h 49 min. Subjective sleep duration varied with the lunar cycle, from 6 h 41 min at full moon to 7 h 00 min at new moon ( P < 0.001). Average sleep duration was shortened by 68 min during the week compared with weekends ( P < 0.001). Men slept 17 min longer than women ( P < 0.001) and sleep duration decreased with age ( P < 0.001). There was also evidence that rating of fatigue in the morning was associated with moon phase, with more tiredness ( P = 0.027) at full moon. The study was designed for other purposes and the association between lunar cycle and sleep duration will need to be confirmed in further studies.