Abstract Introduction Mattress comfort and support are essential contributors to sleep quality, yet empirical field studies remain limited. This study compared sleep on a latex foam mattress to participants’ baseline sleep on their original mattresses. Methods Healthy adults (N=34; 79% female; M age=44) who reported difficulty falling or staying asleep, frequent awakenings, or nighttime discomfort participated in a 10-week in-home pre–post study. Participants slept on their original mattresses for four weeks, followed by six weeks on a Serta iComfort PRO Mattress (multiple firmness and pillow-top levels), including a two-week adjustment period. Objective sleep was measured nightly using a PSG-validated, noncontact biomotion device, SleepScore Max. Daily and end-of-period questionnaires assessed pre-post subjective outcomes. Analyses used multilevel regression and paired t-tests (α=.05). Results Across more than 1,500 tracked nights, participants fell asleep faster on the latex foam mattress compared to their original mattress, with a 3-minute shorter average sleep onset latency (-9%; p=.04). They also experienced higher BodyScore (+2%; p=.02), indicating improved age- and gender-normalized deep sleep; however, deep sleep did not change when measured in minutes or proportion of the night. Self-reported outcomes showed broad improvements (all ps.05): more nights of comfort (+112%), support (+184%), mattress coolness (+179%), perceived sleep quality (+143%), and sleep satisfaction (+112%). Participants reported fewer nights of tossing and turning (–48%) and fewer aches and pains (–41%). Perceived ease of falling asleep (+46%), feeling well-rested (+94%), and feeling refreshed (+98%) also significantly improved. Conclusion Using a latex foam mattress was associated with objective improvements including faster sleep onset and substantial self-reported benefits including perceptions of decreased pain and increased sleep quality. Support (if any) Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC
Rus et al. (Fri,) studied this question.