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Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
Published on: January 26, 2019
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How consistently does sleep quality improve at retirement? Prospective analyses with group-based trajectory models
Paraskevi Peristera1, Anna Nyberg1,2, Linda L Magnusson Hanson1
1Department of Psychology, Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Journal of Sleep Research
|September 2, 2021
Summary
Retiring from work significantly reduces sleep problems, with improvements sustained for years. Specific work environment factors, like high job demands, predict who benefits most from retirement for better sleep quality.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Sleep Science
- Gerontology
Background:
- Retirement is linked to short-term sleep improvements, but long-term effects and work environment influences remain unclear.
- Studying abrupt life transitions like retirement presents methodological challenges in time-series analysis.
- Understanding how pre-retirement work conditions impact sleep post-transition is crucial for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the long-term effects of retirement on various sleep difficulties.
- To model individual sleep trajectories around retirement using advanced statistical methods.
- To identify pre-retirement work environment factors associated with sleep changes after leaving paid employment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (n=2,148).
- Employed group-based trajectory modeling, comparing polynomial and B-spline functions to capture time around retirement.
- Analyzed sleep difficulties (onset, maintenance, awakening, restlessness, non-restorative sleep) and their association with job demands, control, and working hours.
Main Results:
- Sudden and sustained reductions in sleep difficulties were observed post-retirement, lasting up to 11 years for some outcomes.
- Distinct individual patterns of sleep change emerged, with those experiencing severe pre-retirement sleep issues showing the greatest benefit.
- Higher job demands, lower work time control, lower job control, and full-time work were associated with greater sleep improvements after retirement.
Conclusions:
- Retirement offers sustained sleep benefits, particularly for individuals with challenging pre-retirement work conditions.
- B-spline models provide more accurate representations of sleep changes around abrupt transitions than polynomial models.
- Careful consideration of time-modeling techniques is essential to avoid artefactual findings when studying sudden life events like retirement.
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