The Effects of Pillow Filling Materials on the Comfortable Sleep

Heat conductivity, height, size, elasticity of pillow, stability of shape, hygroscopicity, ventilation, temperature and easy movability, and so on, are considered to be some of major conditions that affect the comfortable sleep. Considering those factors together, the thermal properties, height, shape and feeling of touch, etc, of pillow must be taken into account. Though studies have been conducted to figure out the physical properties of mattress or pillows from the perspective of factors related to the environment of sleep, they are not enough to be used as an index to evaluate the qualitative aspect of sleep. This study tries to consider the effect of pillow filling materials on the comfortable sleep, for which EEG, ECG, EOG, EMG, RT, etc, are to be measured in an attempt to provide the basic data required in proposing the condition that may lead to a sound and comfortable sleep. Three types of pillows that are sold in the market were used for this research in order to evaluate the quality of sleep depending on the filling materials of pillow. All data were statistically processed and the following conclusions were drawn. It was found that the pillow with feathers provided the best comfort as the pillow A turned out to have the shortest sleeping latency(SL) from the perspective of comfort. The pillow B which used the polyethylene is deemed to be suitable for fatigue relieving purpose as it turned out to have the highest slow wave sleep(SWS), but no statistically significant difference was validated. Moreover, the pillow C which used the natural wool was found to have the narrowest contacting area of the pillow and head and provide a great warm heat comfort that may led to a sound sleep because the temperature below the pillow took the longest time to rise.