National Sleep Study

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Sleep Study

Thank you for your interest in the in-home part of National Sleep Study, which is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and performed by the University of Pennsylvania. The main purpose of the in-home study is to investigate how you react to noise from aircraft while you are sleeping. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the University of Pennsylvania and by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

We will measure your body movements and heart rate for 5 consecutive weeknights, Monday through Friday. The small device is battery operated will be attached with two electrodes to your chest (see figures below).

We will also record sounds inside your bedroom during the sleep period with a small sound recorder (see figure below). We will ask you to place the recorder on your night stand or the box we deliver it in. 

All study equipment will be mailed to your home. A detailed instruction manual will guide you step-by-step through the study. The manual will show you how to set up the equipment, how to start measurements in the evening, how to stop them in the morning, and how to ship the equipment back to us after the last measurement night (we will pay for shipping). Videos on how to use the equipment can be found here.

On each morning of the study, we ask you to complete a brief questionnaire on your previous night's sleep. It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. We also ask you to fill out a sleep characteristics questionnaire once before your first study night. It takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.

During the study, you can go to sleep and wake up at your normal times. You can go about your normal activities during the day and evening.

You will receive $30 compensation for each night you complete the sleep and noise measurements, $2 for each completed morning questionnaire, and $10 for completing the sleep characteristics questionnaire, for a maximum total of $170 for the 5 consecutive nights/mornings. You will receive the compensation on a debit card that will be activated after we receive the equipment back.

If you want to participate in the in-home part of the National Sleep Study, you must have received, completed and mailed back to us the National Sleep Study survey. You can indicate on the survey that you are interested in participating in the in-home part of the study and leave contact information. If you are eligible to participate (you must be 21 years or older) we will contact you to explain details of the study to you and to schedule your measurement period.

If you have any questions, you can contact us via telephone or email:

•     Call:  215-573-3815 (mention National Sleep Study)

•     Email:  noise@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Thank you for your interest in the National Sleep Study!

The study team at the University of Pennsylvania

Paperwork Reduction Act Burden Statement: A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.  The OMB Control Number for this information collection is 2120-0798 which has been approved for collection of voluntary responses only.  Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to be 8.25 minutes to complete the postal survey and 2 hours and 33 minutes of active participation across 5 study days to complete the field study.  Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Donald Scata, FAA-AEE-100, 800 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20591, or by email at NoiseResearchFRN@faa.gov.