Sleep Disturbances, Duration Linked to Working Life Expectancy

THURSDAY, Aug. 20, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Sleep disturbances and long sleep duration are associated with a reduction in working life expectancy (WLE), according to a study published online Aug. 18 in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Saana Myllyntausta, Ph.D., from the University of Turku in Finland, and colleagues examined the associations of sleep disturbances and sleep duration with WLE from age 50 to 68 years using data from the Finnish Public Sector study and the Health and Social Support (HeSSup) study (70,339 and 6,071 participants, respectively). Sleep disturbances and usual sleep duration were reported.

The researchers found that reporting no, moderate, and severe sleep disturbances predicted a WLE of 13.4, 13.0, and 12.8 years, respectively, at 50 years of age. Short, midrange, and long sleep duration (less than seven hours, seven to 8.5 hours, and nine hours or longer) predicted a WLE of 13.2, 13.2, and 12.4 years, respectively. In HeSSup, the findings on sleep duration were more pronounced.

“The reductions in WLE associated with sleep disturbances and long sleep duration are similar in size as having between one or two chronic diseases or two or more behavioral risk factors (e.g., obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical inactivity), as well as with those associated with occupational factors, such as high psychosocial risk at work (e.g., high job strain) and being exposed to high physical workload,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to Oy Terveystalo Ab.

Abstract/Full Text