Poor sleep after 50 could shorten working life by up to nine months, study finds

Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland have found that severely disrupted or excessively long sleep can cost people up to nine months of working life after the age of 50. The study examined data on adults aged 50 to 68 with varying levels of sleep disturbance.

Compared with participants who reported no sleep disturbances, those with moderate disturbances worked nearly five fewer months over that period, while those with severe disturbances worked around eight fewer months, regardless of gender or type of job.

How the study was conducted

The researchers drew on data from the Finnish Public Sector study and the Health and Social Support study, surveying participants about their sleep habits after turning 50. Nightly sleep length was grouped into short (under seven hours), mid-range (seven to 8.5 hours) and long (nine hours or more), while disturbances included difficulty falling or staying asleep, waking too early, and non-restorative sleep in the four weeks before the survey.

Both short and mid-range sleep were linked to a working life expectancy of 13 years and two months after age 50, compared with 12 years and five months for long sleep. The longest working life expectancy, nearly 14 years, was found among professional women with no sleep disturbances, while the shortest, about 12.5 years, was among men in routine jobs with severe disturbances.

Lead investigator Dr Saana Myllyntausta said it was surprising to find no difference between short and mid-range sleep duration, even though earlier research has linked short sleep to earlier retirement. She suggested long sleep's association with a shorter working life may reflect poorer overall health among those affected.

Myllyntausta stressed the importance of supporting sleep health and treating sleep problems, particularly among people with lower socioeconomic status, in midlife. She pointed to workplace interventions, such as occupational health services offering treatment for insomnia, as effective ways to support working-age adults' sleep. The researchers noted they could not account for other influential factors such as physical and mental health, risky health behaviours, or shift work.