Health Zone : Good night’s sleep may reduce sickness absence – Researchers

A new study finds that people who regularly get 7 to 8 hours a night of uninterrupted sleep, are the least likely to be absent from work due to sickness. A report on the study, led by Dr. Tea Lallukka, a specialized researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, is published in the journal Sleep.

The study analyzed a nationally representative survey of 3,760 men and women in Finland. The participants were aged 30-64 when they joined the study, and were followed for an average of 7 years.

Information of participants’ sleep behavior and patterns was collected by questionnaires, and the researchers obtained data on their health from physical exams carried out by field physicians.

The team also collected information about work absence due to sickness from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. This records all absences due to sickness that last over 10 days.

Sleeping 7 to 8 hours linked to lowest risk of sickness absence

The results show that the risk of being absent from work due to sickness for 10 days or more rose sharply among people who said they slept less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours a night.

When they analyzed the results further, the team found those who slept between 7 and 8 hours a night had the lowest risk of sickness absence. For men the optimal sleep duration was 7 hours 46 minutes, and for women it was 7 hours 38 minutes.

Dr. Lallukka says we should be promoting optimal sleep duration because very long and very short sleep seem to be linked to health problems and subsequent sickness absence…