Turn Up the Volume

Abstract

Insufficient sleep syndrome is highly prevalent and an important sleep problem. It occurs when an individual persistently fails to obtain the amount of sleep required to maintain normal levels of alertness and wakefulness. The patient’s ability to initiate and maintain sleep is unimpaired or above average. This chapter outlines the relevant literature linking sleep deprivation and adverse wide-ranging consequences and plausible mechanisms linking them. One of the most striking of these consequences is drowsy driving, which many times is caused by sleep deprivation. Insufficient sleep is an important cause of motor vehicle crashes and carries a high socioeconomic burden. Dissemination and implementation research strategies are needed to inform public health policy initiatives to address insufficient sleep syndrome and drowsy driving.