Environmental sleep disorders include any sleep disturbances that are caused by conditions related to one’s external surroundings. These disturbances may include noise such as that of a crying baby or music emanating from the apartment next door, movement caused by a bed partner’s tossing and turning, temperature and lighting that interfere with sleep, and other physical conditions in the vicinity of one’s bedroom. And, according to a new Mayo Clinic study, the source of many sleepless nights can be linked also to a cause that until now had been only nominally explored: house pets.
In 2002, the Mayo Clinic published a study indicating that among the clinic’s patients, only one percent reported sleep disturbances related to their pets. By contrast, the organization’s recent study, which was presented in 2013 at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, suggests that a significant portion of patients with pets—ten percent, to be precise—reported that their animal companions sometimes caused sleep disturbances.
The 2013 study targeted 110 consecutive patients at the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine located in Arizona, and revolved around a comprehensive sleep questionnaire distributed between the months of August and December. All questionnaire respondents were asked to record the type and number of pets they owned, as well as information about their animals’ behaviors, sleeping arrangements, and any pet-related sleep disturbances they had experienced. Among the patients surveyed 46 percent reported owing pets, and 42 percent clamed to own more than one animal. Dogs, cats, and birds were the most popular pets, and the most commonly reported sleep disturbances were whimpering, wandering, snoring, the need to “go outside,” and medical needs.
Mayo Clinic psychiatrist and study author Lois Krahn, M.D. states that the majority of the patients involved in the study did not perceive their pets as “intolerably disturbing.” While most patients felt that their pets were tolerable, however, a higher percentage of patients than before reported experiencing feelings of irritation regarding their pets. Dr. Krahn attributes this increase in self-reported disturbances in part to the growing number of households in which multiple pets reside.
While for pet owners with sleep disorders the study’s findings may appear to have dire implications, the good news is that getting rid of your beloved animal may not be the only solution to achieving restful sleep. From do-it-yourself books to group classes, private trainers to animal psychologists, pet owners have access to a vast array of resources that can help to discourage their pets from engaging in sleep-disturbing nighttime behaviors. And by asking patients about companion animals from the get-go, sleep specialists can help to identify problem pets and, in turn, to help patients find solutions to getting a better night’s rest.
At Rowe Neurology Institute, we have the most current diagnostic tools for the diagnosis of sleep disorders, and a staff of neurologists and integrated caregivers who specialize in sleep disorders. We perform 1,500 in lab sleep studies annually in our nationally accredited sleep disorders center. We believe it’s extremely important for patients to see their sleep studies in detail. So they can be their best selves and have a full understanding of their sleep disorders. We show them how.