The average Korean senior citizen sleeps 33 minutes less than the global average (423 minutes), while the average Korean senior citizen walks the longest in the world. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study conducted by Samsung Research has revealed concerning statistics regarding sleep patterns and quality among the elderly population in South Korea. According to the study’s findings, South Korea ranks at the bottom in terms of both sleep duration and sleep quality among the 17 countries surveyed.
Samsung Research, the advanced research and development arm of Samsung Electronics, conducted the study using data from its healthcare platform, Samsung Health, which tracks the sleep habits of individuals aged 65 and older around the world.
The results show that elderly individuals in South Korea, on average, get only 390 minutes of sleep per day, which amounts to 6 hours and 30 minutes.
Samsung Electronics has been dedicating efforts to research in the field of “sleep tech” solutions, recognizing its significance as an emerging area of interest.
The data released by Samsung Newsroom indicates that the average sleep time for the elderly in South Korea falls short of the global average by 33 minutes. South Korea and India are the two countries at the lowest end of the spectrum, with India’s elderly individuals sleeping an average of 386 minutes.
In contrast, Finland boasts the longest sleep duration for seniors at 459 minutes.
The sleep quality of elderly individuals in South Korea, as measured by Samsung Health’s algorithm, also ranked the lowest among the 17 countries with an average sleep score of 63.4. In contrast, the global average sleep score was 64.9, and Finland, with the longest sleep duration, secured the top spot in sleep quality with a score of 66.3.
Interestingly, despite the sleep challenges faced by South Korean seniors, they are the most active in terms of daily walking, exceeding an hour on average. South Korean seniors walk for an average of 60.7 minutes per day, significantly more than the global average of 43.8 minutes and nearly double the walking time in Brazil, which stands at 33.2 minutes.
In fact, South Korean seniors walk more than those in their 20s, with their walking habits topping the rankings across all age groups.
The survey coincided with October’s Older Americans Month and was based on user data from Samsung Health in 17 countries, including the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and South Korea.
Additionally, the Sleep Health Study, based on 716 million data points from Samsung Health users worldwide, revealed that the average daily sleep duration among those surveyed decreased by four minutes from June of last year to May of this year, averaging 6 hours and 59 minutes.
This figure falls below the minimum sleep recommendation of seven hours set by the U.S. National Sleep Foundation (NSF). The average sleep duration in Asia, including South Korea, was the shortest at 6 hours and 34 minutes.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
