Scientists have linked sleep disorders after 50 years with early retirement from work

Regular sleep disorders after the age of 50 are associated with a reduction in the expected length of working life by 5-8 months. For people who slept for nine hours or more, this indicator was also lower than for participants with 7-8.5 hours of night rest. By the expected length of working life, the authors understood the average number of years that a person aged 50 can spend in the workforce until the age of 68. This is a statistical estimate for a group, not a retirement date forecast for a specific individual. This was reported by Medical Xpress magazine on August 18.

How did scientists evaluate sleep and employment?

Scientists obtained information about sleep from the first questionnaire that participants filled out after reaching the age of 50. Sleep lasting less than seven hours was considered short, from seven to eight and a half hours was considered average, and nine hours or more was considered long.

The researchers also took into account difficulties falling asleep and staying asleep, waking up too early, and not feeling well after a night's rest. Disturbances that occurred from two to four nights a week were considered moderate, and from five to six nights to almost daily were considered severe.

Sleep disorders were associated with the loss of several months of work

People without sleep disorders had a working life expectancy of 13 years and five months after the age of 50. With moderate problems, the indicator decreased to 13 years, and with severe problems — to 12 years and ten months.

Thus, participants with moderate impairments could stay busy for almost five months less, and those with severe impairments for about eight months less than their peers without similar problems. The connection was maintained regardless of gender and professional category.

The highest rate — almost 14 years — was recorded among women who were engaged in skilled labor and had no problems sleeping. The lowest in this analysis — about 12.5 years — was found in men who performed routine work and reported severe sleep disorders.

Why prolonged sleep is not necessarily the reason

In the FPS sample, participants with short and medium sleep duration could expect an average of another 13 years and two months of employment after reaching the age of 50. For people who slept for nine hours or more, the rate was 12 years and five months.

Compared with 7-8.5 hours of sleep, a long night's rest was associated with a shorter work life of about nine months in the FPS sample and more than 30 months in HeSSup. However, the researchers found no convincing differences between participants with short and medium sleep duration. This does not mean that sleeping less than seven hours is useful or safe: the study showed only the absence of a statistically clear relationship with the duration of employment in the studied samples.

The work was observational in nature, so it does not prove that prolonged or disrupted sleep directly causes people to stop working earlier. The authors could not fully take into account the physical and mental health of the participants, chronic diseases, lifestyle features, shift schedules and other working conditions.

For this reason, sleeping for nine hours or more may not be an independent cause, but a sign of illness, chronic fatigue, depression, or decreased performance.

Social status has increased the differences

The gap between the participants with the most favorable combination of professional status and sleep quality and the least well-off groups was one year and five months in FPS and about five years in HeSSup.

The lowest scores — about six years and five months of further employment — were given to men with low levels of education or routine work who slept at least nine hours. However, this difference cannot be explained solely by the peculiarities of sleep, since socio-economic differences were simultaneously taken into account.

They mentioned cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia as part of employee health care, educational programs, and corporate initiatives to promote sleep health as possible measures. The researchers emphasized that such measures are becoming particularly important against the background of an increase in the retirement age and the need to maintain the working capacity of the population for longer.