Sleep and sickness absence: a nationally representative register-based follow-up study

Area of Science:

• Occupational health
• Sleep medicine
• Public health

Background:

• Sickness absence represents a significant economic burden.
• Sleep disturbances are prevalent and can impact overall health and well-being.
• Understanding the link between sleep and sickness absence is crucial for preventative strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate various sleep measures as predictors of sickness absence.
• To examine these associations in a working-aged population while controlling for potential confounders.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the nationally representative Health 2000 Survey in Finland.
• Linked survey data with sickness absence records from the Finnish Social Insurance Institution.
• Employed Poisson and gamma regression models on a cohort of 3,760 working-aged adults.

Main Results:

• Insomnia symptoms, early morning awakenings, daytime tiredness, and use of sleeping pills were associated with sickness absence in women.
• Similar sleep disturbances, excluding excessive daytime sleepiness, were linked to sickness absence in men.
• Optimal sleep durations identified were 7.6 hours for women and 7.8 hours for men; addressing sleep issues could reduce costs by up to 28%.

Conclusions:

• Sleep disturbances are significant determinants of sickness absence.
• Preventing sleep problems and promoting adequate sleep duration are vital for reducing work absenteeism.
• Interventions targeting sleep health may yield substantial economic benefits by decreasing sickness absence.