Sleep Quality: Measure Whether Your Sleep Quality is Good or Poor

 

Sleep Quality: Measure Whether Your Sleep is Good or Poor

Sleep Quality

Do you often feel restless in the morning even after sleeping enough hours at night? Don’t worry; millions of people worldwide face this problem. This happens because you are not getting good quality sleep but only focusing on its quantity. The problem may not be the quantity of your sleep, but rather the quality. In this article, Sleep Quality: Measure Whether Your Sleep is Good or Poor, you will read how to measure the quality of your sleep and identify signs of good and poor sleep quality. You will also explore various factors that can contribute to poor sleep quality, such as bad sleeping habits, chronic diseases, stress, and depression. Finally, You will know some simple yet effective tips on how to improve your sleep quality and get a more restful and rejuvenating sleep.

Signs of Good or Poor Sleep Quality

Sleep quality states "It is the measurement of whether the person is getting restful and relaxed sleep, or it measures how well the person sleeps". Usually, calculating the sleeping hours is easier than measuring "why the person’s sleep is disturbed or not relaxing". You can easily determine good and poor sleep quality by following the steps below.

Signs of Good Sleep Quality

Researchers and scientist have various tools to measure sleep quality. But here is how you can measure your sleep quality: to know this, some signs of good sleep quality are:

Sleep Latency

Sleep latency is the amount of time taken by a person to go to sleep after going to bed. Usually, an individual with a sleep latency of 30 minutes enjoys a good sleep. If it takes 30 minutes for you to nod off after going to bed, then your sleep quality will be considered good. It is an easier way to measure the quality of your sleep.

Sleep Waking

Sleep waking refers to the number of times a person arises from sleep in the night. If you wake up only once at night, it means that you have good sleep quality. If you arise from sleep again and again, it indicates that your sleep quality needs to improve. Waking up repeatedly at night can affect your quality of sleep and mental health as well.

Wakefulness

Wakefulness is another factor that can determine the quality of sleep. If you wake up at night and sleep again within 20 minutes, then you have good sleep quality. But if you wake up and face difficulty sleeping again, then it is a bad sign. 20-minute wakefulness at night suggests that your quality of sleep is good.

Sleep Efficiency

When a person spends the recommended amount of time sleeping at night, it is called sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency of 85% is counted as normal. People with sleep efficiency of 85% or higher prove beneficial for health. If you have a sleep quality score of 100%, it means your quality of sleep is excellent.

Signs of Poor Sleep

Poor sleep quality can easily be measured. Below are some signs of poor sleep quality.

Waking Up Tired

Waking up fresh in the morning is a sign of good sleep. On the other hand, feeling tired, lazy, or inactive in the mornings is a sign that your sleep quality is poor. Even if you are getting enough sleep, you will still feel tired the whole day. It can be the reason for difficulty in performing routine activities.

Difficulty in Sleeping

If you have difficulty falling asleep, this also indicates that your sleep quality is not good. If it takes you more than 30 minutes to go to sleep when you go to bed, then you can feel tired in the morning. This may happen due to the stress of daily life events. It can lead to mental disturbances and cause sleep disorders.

Waking Up Repeatedly at Night

Waking up again and again at night also indicates poor sleep quality. If you get up one or two times at night, that’s normal. A person who gets up frequently at night cannot enjoy a relaxed sleep. Moreover, with aging, this problem further increases.

Way to Measure Sleep Quality

There are also self-report tools or scale available that are used to measure the quality of the sleep-in human beings. These scale consist of different questions like difficulty waking up, daytime symptoms, and problems maintaining and initiating sleep.

Causes of Poor Sleep Quality:

Reduction in sleep quality occurs due to a variety of causes. Even sleep can be disturbed by some medical problems, especially chronic diseases. Bad behaviors and habits can also reduce sleep quality. these causes are described below:

Bad Sleeping Habits

Some bad habits like overeating before bedtime, eating late at night, smoking, using alcohol and drugs, disrupting your sleeping schedule, too much mobile phone usage at night, and consuming caffeine can ruin your relaxed sleep. These bad habits mostly disrupt your sleep and lead to sleep disorders.

Chronic Diseases

There is a significant relationship between chronic diseases and poor sleep. For example, the pain that occurs due to arthritis can disrupt a person's sleep at night. Asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic pain due to certain diseases can stop you from getting relaxed sleep at night.

Stress and Depression

Depression and stress are the major contributing factors affecting the quality of sleep. For example, post-traumatic disorders can cause nightmares, flashbacks, and uncontrollable thoughts that can disturb a person's normal sleep. Lack of sleep mostly occurs in people with severe stress conditions.

Sleep Apnea

Stress disorders and sleep apnea are some of the problems that diminish the quality of sleep. In this condition, breathing halts and restarts when the person is sleeping. People with this condition mostly complain that they are unable to sleep at night.

Ways to Improve Sleep Quality

To improve your sleep quality, you don’t need any kind of supplementation. You only need to practice good sleeping habits to improve your sleep quality. These habits are simple to adopt. Have a look at these good habits.

Proper Sleep Schedule

The best way to improve your sleep quality is to make a proper schedule. Don’t take too many naps in the morning. The ideal sleep time is eight hours. You must sleep according to the recommended hours for your age cohort.

Don’t Consume Caffeine at Bedtime

Consumption of caffeine before bedtime is very bad for sleep. There are a number of studies showing that consuming caffeine can disturb your sleep cycle. Even consumption of caffeine 6 hours before going to bed can diminish your sleep quality. It's necessary to stop consuming caffeine almost four to six hours before going to bed.

Calm Environment

Whenever you are going to sleep, make your surroundings calm and peaceful. Keep electronic devices away from your bed. The temperature of the room should be moderate—not too cold or too hot. Draw the curtains to stop the light from entering the room. Don’t allow anyone to enter the room and disturb you.

Avoid Eating Before Going to Bed

After eating a meal, wait at least three hours before going to bed. Our body needs time to digest the food. When digestion starts, your metabolism becomes active, which prevents you from sleeping. It's important to eat a meal at least three hours before going to sleep. It also prevents any kind of indigestion or heartburn problem.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to your health, sleep quality is equally crucial as the quantity sleep you get. Short sleep latency, low sleep waking, limited alertness, and high sleep efficiency are indicators of excellent sleep quality, whereas morning fatigue, trouble falling asleep, and frequent waking are symptoms of poor sleep quality. Sleep apnea, chronic disorders, stress, and poor sleeping habits may all lead to subpar rest. Good sleeping habits, such as sticking to a regular sleep schedule, avoiding coffee in the hours leading up to night, making sure your bedroom is dark and quiet, and not eating within three hours of bedtime, have all been shown to increase sleep quality.

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