title: Sleepless night, the moon is bright: longitudinal study of lunar phase and sleep.
abstract: Popular belief holds that the lunar cycle affects human physiology, behaviour and health. We examined the influence of moon phase on sleep duration in a secondary analysis of a feasibility study of mobile telephone base stations and sleep quality. We studied 31 volunteers (18 women and 13 men, mean age 50 years) from a suburban area of Switzerland longitudinally over 6 weeks, including two full moons. Subjective sleep duration was calculated from sleep diary data. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression models with random effects. Mean sleep duration was 6 h 49 min. Subjective sleep duration varied with the lunar cycle, from 6 h 41 min at full moon to 7 h 00 min at new moon (P < 0.001). Average sleep duration was shortened by 68 min during the week compared with weekends (P < 0.001). Men slept 17 min longer than women (P < 0.001) and sleep duration decreased with age (P < 0.001). There was also evidence that rating of fatigue in the morning was associated with moon phase, with more tiredness (P = 0.027) at full moon. The study was designed for other purposes and the association between lunar cycle and sleep duration will need to be confirmed in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland. roeoesli@ispm.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Röösli
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jüni
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Braun-Fahrländer
authors.forename: Martin W G
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Brinkhof
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Low
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Egger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016081:Moon; D015995:Prevalence; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors