Improved bedroom airflow could open door to better sleep: study

Eindhoven, The Netherlands — Tossing and turning and yearning for a sounder night’s sleep? A remedy might be simpler and closer than you think.

Increasing bedroom ventilation by opening a window or interior door may help you catch more zzzs, according to a new study from researchers in the Netherlands. 

The researchers analyzed the sleep patterns of 17 young adults over five nights, measuring temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide levels both in bedrooms with open windows or interior doors, and closed windows and doors.

Results showed that bedrooms with better ventilation had lower carbon dioxide levels, prompting “better sleep depth, sleep efficiency and lesser number of awakenings,” the study states.

“Considering we spend nearly a third of our life in the bedroom environment, the air quality in our sleeping environment is often an overlooked parameter when thinking of health and/or well-being,” lead study author Asit Kumar Mishra, of Eindhoven University of Technology, told Safety+Health. “The current work tried to check on easily implementable, occupant-controlled means for improving ventilation levels and see if this leads to distinction in sleep quality.”

The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults sleep for seven to nine hours daily.

The study was published online Nov. 21 in the journal Indoor Air.