The effects of daylight saving time clock changes on accelerometer-measured sleep duration in the UK Biobank

Abstract

We explored the effects of daylight saving time clock changes on sleep duration in a large accelerometer dataset. Our sample included UK Biobank participants (n = 11,780; aged 43-78 years) with accelerometer data for one or more days during the 2 weeks surrounding the Spring and Autumn daylight saving time transitions from October 2013 and November 2015. Between-individual t-tests compared sleep duration on the Sunday (midnight to midnight) of the clock changes with the Sunday before and the Sunday after. We also compared sleep duration on all other days (Monday-Saturday) before and after the clock changes. In Spring, mean sleep duration was 65 min lower on the Sunday of the clock changes than the Sunday before (95% confidence interval -72 to -58 min), and 61 min lower than the Sunday after (95% confidence interval -69 to -53). In Autumn, the mean sleep duration on the Sunday of the clock changes was 33 min higher than the Sunday before (95% confidence interval 27-39 min), and 38 min higher than the Sunday after (95% confidence interval 32-43 min). There was some evidence of catch-up sleep after both transitions, with sleep duration a little higher on the Monday-Friday than before, although this was less pronounced in Autumn. Future research should use large datasets with longer periods of accelerometer wear to capture sleep duration before and after the transition in the same individuals, and examine other aspects of sleep such as circadian misalignment, sleep fragmentation or daytime napping.

Keywords: UK Biobank; actigraphy; daylight saving time; sleep; sleep loss.