Structural Inequity and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Sleep Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The onset of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting global lockdowns, hospitalizations, and increased unemployment rates have disproportionately affected minoritized racial/ethnic groups, which likely exacerbated existing racial/ethnic disparities in sleep health around the world. In this chapter, we summarize research findings that describe various dimensions of sleep health by race/ethnicity, globally, before and during the ongoing pandemic. Understanding that structural inequities impact sleep-health disparities, we also describe the existing literature on racial/ethnic disparities in sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic from a socioecological perspective at the individual, household, community, and societal levels. We also identify salient research gaps, such as limited objectively measured sleep data, a lack of intersectionality being investigated, and few public health interventions employed. Considering these literature gaps and limitations, we provide future research directions, promote the need to employ an intersectional perspective, as well as, a health equity or structural racism lens, and discuss the importance of multilevel, multi-pronged interventions that can improve sleep health across socially disadvantaged groups.