Effects of different mattresses on sleep quality in healthy subjects: an actigraphic study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to verify whether different technological solutions for mattresses had different effects on sleep quality. To this end, 16 healthy volunteers tested a latex mattress and 16 healthy participants tested an independent spring mattress. Sleep quality was assessed before and after introducing new mattresses both objectively and subjectively by means of actigraphy and Mini Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ), respectively. Both kinds of mattress led to a significant improvement in several actigraphic sleep parameters: sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency and motor activity. On the contrary, no significant improvement in subjective sleep quality was detected. The use of both kinds of mattress is associated with an improvement in objective sleep quality. Future studies should investigate if sleep quality improvement is merely due to the introduction of a new mattress or prevalently to the technological features of the mattress.

Keywords:

• actigraphy
• mattress
• sleep quality
• healthy subjects

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from B&T S.p.A. Company (Forlì, Italy), a bedding manufacturer, which also provided the wooden slatted bed bases and mattresses used in the study.