Health-related behaviors associated with subjective sleep insufficiency in Japanese workers: A cross-sectional study

Sleep disturbances are related to somatic and mental disorders, industrial accidents, absenteeism, and retirement because of disability. We aimed to identify health-related behaviors associated with subjective sleep insufficiency in Japanese workers.

This cross-sectional study included 5,297 employees (mean age: 43.6±11.3 years; 4,039 men). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify health-related behaviors associated with subjective sleep insufficiency.

Overall, 28.2% of participants experienced subjective sleep insufficiency. There was a significant difference between the genders in the proportion of participants with subjective sleep insufficiency (male: 26.4%; female: 34.3%; p<0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that being a female or ≥40 years, experiencing a weight change of ≥3 kg during the preceding year, not exercising regularly, not walking quickly, and eating a late-evening or fourth meal were associated with subjective sleep insufficiency. After stratifying by gender, age ≥40 years, not exercising regularly, and eating a late-evening or fourth meal were significantly associated with subjective sleep insufficiency in both genders. Not walking quickly, experiencing a weight change, and eating quickly were positively associated with subjective sleep insufficiency only for males. Females who did not engage in physical activity were more likely to have experienced subjective sleep insufficiency, but this relationship was not observed in males.

The results indicated that certain health-related behaviors, specifically not exercising regularly and nocturnal eating habits, were associated with subjective sleep insufficiency in a group of Japanese workers.