title: Circadian rhythms and sleep patterns in urban Greek couples.
abstract: A convenience sample of 14 adults (seven couples) who intentionally nap regularly was recruited to describe circadian rhythms and sleep patterns in a culture in which afternoon naps are routine. Participants wore a wrist actigraph for 48 hr during May to obtain two peaks and troughs of activity data. Peak activity, estimated by cosinor analysis (acrophase), occurred at 1542 hours for men and at 1600 hours for women. Compared to their male partners, women had a later acrophase and a significantly stronger 24-hr rhythm, despite similar nap and nighttime sleep schedules. Men had more awakenings during the night and slightly shorter naps than did women. For the 24-hr period, men averaged 6.8 +/- 1.0 hr of sleep and women averaged 7.4 +/- 1.1 hr. Results indicate that Greek adults delay sleep onset at night and awaken early in the morning. Among this small group, naps are an accepted cultural behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Health Care Nursing at University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. kathy.lee@nursing.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Kathryn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yewoubdar
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Beyene
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Paparrigopoulos
authors.forename: Dimitris G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Dikeos
authors.forename: Constantin R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Soldatos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008571:Men / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D017286:Polysomnography; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012925:Social Conformity; D012945:Social Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology*; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology