Five hypotheses concerned with bedroom environment and sleep quality: A questionnaire survey in Shanghai city, China. (November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Xinbo; Lan, Li; Shen, Jingyun; Sun, Yuxiang; Lian, Zhiwei
• Is Part Of: Building and environment. Volume 205(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Subjects: Sleep quality -- Bedroom environment -- Outdoor surroundings -- Ventilation behaviour -- Urban governance; Buildings -- Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Building -- Research -- Periodicals; Constructions -- Technique de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 696
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108252
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-1323

Abstract

Abstract: Based on the researches conducted in recent decades, five hypotheses concerned with bedroom environment and sleep quality were proposed. In order to verify these hypotheses, we conducted a questionnaire survey which lasted one year in Shanghai. This questionnaire contained questions on inhabitants' basic information, inhabited environment, living habits and sleep quality. A total of 1130 valid questionnaires (540 males, 590 females) were obtained. Results showed that inhabitants' sleep quality was significantly affected by heat in transitional season, cold, heat and noise in summer, cold, heat, dryness and noise in winter, respectively. People living in the bedrooms without plants had a 74.5% chance of getting better sleep than those living in rooms with plants. Artificial facilities (objects or areas constructed with certain functions) around houses had a significant negative effect on inhabitants' sleep quality, but no significant impact of natural landscape (original landscape of nature) was found. Ventilation was an effective way to improve bedroom environment. The frequency of ventilation in the morning was significantly correlated with sleep quality ( p < 0.05), and ventilation time longer than 15 min per day helped significantly improve the inhabitants' sleep quality ( p < 0.05); during sleep period, compared with the inhabitants in sealed bedrooms, the average sleep quality of inhabitants who opened doors increased by 26.0%, 4.7% and 13.9% in transitional season, summer and winter, respectively, but opened windows had no obvious effect. Generally, the five hypotheses were highly or moderately verified, which could play an important guiding role in future studies. Highlights: Questionnaire survey investigated respondents' recent sleep quality, evaluations of environment and sleep habits. Presence of houseplants maybe associated with poor sleep quality. With the increase of ventilation frequency in the morning, respondents' sleep quality significantly improved. Sleep with door opened was favorable to the health.