NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Working more and sleeping less? If so, you're not alone, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The poll found that more than one-third of Americans say they get less sleep than they did five years ago. Many of the hours that could be spent sleeping are spent on the job, according to the survey, which was sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Some 40% of respondents said they work longer hours than they did five years ago.

``We want people to understand that getting 8 hours of sleep is important,'' Richard L. Gelula, the executive director of the NSF, told Reuters Health in an interview. Americans ``need to make sleep a priority at least as much as anything else they do for their health, such as diet and exercise,'' he said.

``It's really a matter of trade-offs,'' according to Gelula. Getting enough sleep means choosing not to do some other activities, he said.

The results of the annual telephone survey, which polled a national sample of more than 1,000 adults, show that the US is a sleep-deprived nation. Nearly two out of three adults (63%) get less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep each night.

Americans come closest to getting the minimum recommended amount of sleep on weekends, when they snooze an average of 7.8 hours a night. But during the week, adults get an average of just 7 hours of shut-eye a night.

People who work long hours are most likely to miss out on sleep, according to the survey. Forty-two percent of people who work less than 40 hours a week reported sleeping 8 or more hours a night, compared with 24% of people who work 60 hours or more.

``The more you are working, the less you are sleeping,'' the NSF's Gelula said.

If people are zombies during the day, those extra hours at work may not be the most productive, though. The survey found that about one in five adults experience daytime sleepiness that interferes with daily activities several times a week.

``People have to recognize that there are downsides to sleep deprivation,'' Gelula said.

Some of these downsides can be more serious than unproductive days at work. More than half of survey participants said they had driven while drowsy during the past year and 19% admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel. And 1% of adults say they have had a car accident as a result of being drowsy.

The good news is that some Americans are realizing the importance of sleep, even if they are still not getting as much as they need, Gelula said. According to the survey, 85% Americans would be willing to try to get more sleep if they knew it would improve their health.

``People say that they would sleep more if they better understood the benefits of sleep,'' Gelula said. Besides improving overall health, boosting productivity and making people look better, getting enough rest may be life-extending, according to Gelula.

``Statistically it's been shown that people who sleep too little don't live so long,'' he said.

He encouraged people to bring up the subject of sleep with their doctors, who may diagnose a sleep problem that keeps them from getting enough restful sleep.

The survey found that nearly 7 out of 10 Americans report having a sleep problem, such as snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia, daytime sleepiness or restless leg syndrome. But just 1% to 3% have had these conditions diagnosed and treated.

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