Technological devices such as computers and mobile phones aren’t eating into our sleep time, according to a new study from the University of Sydney.
Researchers used Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 1992, 1997 and 2006. They found the average adult slept 8 hours and 20 minutes in 1992, 8 hours and 33 minutes in 1997 and 8 hours and 30 minutes in 2006.
The authors found there was no significant change in average sleep duration between 1992 and 2006.
There were some exceptions: people aged 65 and over on average slept 12 minutes less than they did in 1992. People with no income slept 17 minutes less and male carers slept 31 minutes less than they did in 1992 – though all still averaged more than 8 hours.
The research is published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Read more at University of Sydney