Economic cost of sleep loss and the rise of sleep tech

Sleep deprivation and deficiency have become quite a dialogue in peer groups across the globe and the economic cost of it is alarming.

Economic costs of sleep loss borne by five Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, is an estimated $680 billion a year, according to a study titled "Why Sleep Matters—The Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep".

In the United States, the cost is an estimated $400 billion. 

Another study, titled "The cost of poor sleep: Workplace productivity loss and associated costs", showed that the United States suffers a whopping ten million loss of working hours a year due to sleep-related absence from work. 

The study also showed the cost of lost productivity as a result of sleep loss at $1,300 to $3,000 per employee in the country. 

In Germany, the economic cost of sleep loss is estimated at $60 billion, and loss of 1.7 million work hours suffered from sleep-related absence from work.

Sleep loss also spawns additional healthcare costs for both employees and employers. 

The draining experience of sleep loss is becoming increasingly prevalent with lives taking massive shifts during the pandemic. 

The encounters range around lack of sleep, sleeping at the wrong time of the day, not sleeping well, having a sleeping disorder, etc. 

It can also be linked to several chronic health conditions, such as anxiety, dementia, depression, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes, according to a journal titled "Association of sleep duration in middle and old age with incidence of dementia"

Everyone has suffered the sleep loss at some point, and if such has prolonged, they have also been burdened by its certain payoff on physical and mental health. The implications are apparent in the cognitive function, attention, and decision making of human beings.

No extensive studies on the issue have been conducted in Bangladesh, however, several pieces of research in countries around the world have shown the economic consequences of sleep loss. 

Rise of sleep tech

With smartwatches, fitness trackers, and other consumer wearables booming in the market, technological solutions are growing increasingly involved in addressing declining global sleep levels. 

Consumer wearables can be used to collect information about the sleep behaviour of individuals, such as the regularity of their bedtimes and sleep pattern on weekends. 

The technology can be useful in investigating the relation of sleep to lifestyle, age, and demographic and socioeconomic factors, according to a research titled "Digital phenotyping by consumer wearables identifies sleep-associated markers of cardiovascular disease risk and biological aging".

These insights collected through consumer wearables could help doctors and researchers better understand sleep and find ways to counter the lack of it, to altogether help strugglers take constructive steps to improve their sleep.

Sleep tech is currently a growing industry that new entrants are being drawn towards. Start-ups and industry hunks, healthcare organisations and policymakers, and even employers and employees are taking an interest in the technology. However, we are yet to discover, or even predict, how Bangladesh will receive it.