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Black Americans are less likely to get quality sleep, and new research suggests police killings of unarmed Black people could be contributing to these racial sleep disparities.
Researchers analyzed sleep data from two large government surveys and a national database of police killings.
The study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, found Black people were more likely than white people to report getting short or very short sleep in the months after police killed an unarmed Black person, according to co-author Atheendar S. Venkataramani, an associate professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s school of medicine.
“Events like this are the type that exactly could have impact on people’s health,” said Venkataramani. “And sleep is one of those things that I think can change very exquisitely in response to circumstances like that.”
The consequences of getting poor sleep, even in the short term, can be severe: Poor sleep is linked to multiple health problems, some of which disproportionately affect Black Americans.
