Elsevier

Sleep Medicine Reviews

Volume 17, Issue 4, August 2013, Pages 285-292
Sleep Medicine Reviews

Clinical review
The impact of daylight saving time on sleep and related behaviours

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2012.10.001Get rights and content

Summary

Daylight saving time is currently adopted in over 70 countries and imposes a twice yearly 1 h change in local clock time. Relative ease in adjustment of sleep patterns is assumed by the general population but this review suggests that the scientific data challenge a popular understanding of the clock change periods. The start of daylight saving time in the spring is thought to lead to the relatively inconsequential loss of 1 h of sleep on the night of the transition, but data suggests that increased sleep fragmentation and sleep latency present a cumulative effect of sleep loss, at least across the following week, perhaps longer. The autumn transition is often popularised as a gain of 1 h of sleep but there is little evidence of extra sleep on that night. The cumulative effect of five consecutive days of earlier rise times following the autumn change again suggests a net loss of sleep across the week. Indirect evidence of an increase in traffic accident rates, and change in health and regulatory behaviours which may be related to sleep disruption suggest that adjustment to daylight saving time is neither immediate nor without consequence.

Section snippets

The rationale behind daylight saving time

Daylight saving time (DST) refers to the practice of adjusting the local clock time so that daylight hours coincide with peak periods of waking activity, particularly travel, recreation and work. The idea is attributed to Benjamin Franklin who, in 1784, wrote of his concern for the economic cost of energy consumption during dark evenings.1 It was to be many years later before William Willett, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, repeatedly argued the case through Parliamentary process,

Aims and scope of this review

The study of DST transitions provides a valuable opportunity to consider the effects of relatively minor externally imposed levels of sleep disruption on daytime function.

The aims of this review are twofold:

  • 1.

    To explore the experimental data relating to the immediate impact of transitions at the start and end of DST on sleep mechanisms.

  • 2.

    To evaluate evidence of a presumed link between sleep disruption attributed to DST and short-term behavioural consequences, including traffic accidents, illness

DST and sleep

Experimental studies of DST rely on data generated from survey, diary, polysomnography and activity monitors (summarised in Table 1) covering the period immediately prior to and following the spring and autumn clock change transitions. Studies vary in terms of seasonal focus (spring and/or autumn), latitude, timing of data (within and between comparison years), and length of observation, all of which present considerable difficulties when making comparisons across studies.

Road traffic accidents and DST

It has been argued that in the short-term the disruptive effects of DST on sleep are responsible for an apparent increase in vehicle and pedestrian road traffic accidents. The main reports in this area are summarised in Table 2. In the UK, Monk and Folkard14 described this observation in a preliminary analysis of accident data linked with the autumn transition. Monk24 then went on to compare UK accident data following the 1972 and 1973 spring transitions with the preceding 2 y period in the UK

Summary and conclusions

It has been known since the 1970s that DST transitions disrupt sleep duration, quality and placement,14 suggesting a persistence of the internal clock time for about 1 wk after the adjustment of local time. Although initially regarded as transitory and of little consequence, a growing body of evidence looking at the effects of sleep disruption on daytime function suggests otherwise. Scientific studies have focused on direct measures of adjustment, with diary and actigraphic data highlighting

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