Spring forward, fall back. Daylight saving time (DST) literally increases the number of daylight hours but it also disrupts your sleep and circadian rhythms. The price you pay could be your health.

Arizona and Alaska do not use DST, nor do many U.S. territories, including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All other states and the District of Columbia do. Interestingly, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation in March 2022, the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, to put an end to DST, leaving the “spring forward” time in place. However, it has not yet been approved by the House or signed by the President.  

The Power of Circadian Rhythm

Daylight saving time increases depression, heart attacks, and injuries.

Diagnosis Life summary:
A study in PLOS Computational Biology (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007927) looked at nearly 160 million insurance claims for people in the United States and Sweden. It turns out that changing the clock by an hour can affect your health in a number of ways, especially when you lose that hour of sleep in the spring. Adults 40 and older are more prone to heart attacks, substance abuse, and mental health issues like depression. Children have a rise in head, wrist, and hand injuries while adults have more thoracic and torso injuries. The researchers reported that spring DST may contribute to as many as 880,000 negative health events each year.

More people require hospitalization for atrial fibrillation after spring daylight savings time.

Diagnosis Life summary:
A study in Sleep Medicine (https://doi/org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.01.018) looked at more than 6,000 hospital stays that occurred during daylight saving time. It turned out that 25% more people required hospitalization for atrial fibrillation the Monday through Thursday after spring DST than the yearly average (3.09 vs. 2.47 admissions per day). Women were disproportionately affect with rates as high as 39% (1.78 vs. 1.28 admissions per day). Interestingly, fall DST did not affect the rate of hospitalization.

Spring daylight saving may increase the risk for medical errors.

Diagnosis Life summary:
A study in Sleep (https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa056.171) looked at self-reported medical errors in large healthcare organizations that occurred in the week before and after DST. Reviewing 8 years of data, the researchers found that medical errors were 18% more likely after spring DST and 5% after fall DST. The forced sleep deprivation in the spring really makes a big difference.