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Workplace
Original research
Sleep duration and sleep difficulties as predictors of occupational injuries: a cohort study
  1. Maria Alhainen1,2,
  2. Mikko Härmä3,
  3. Jaana Pentti1,2,4,
  4. Jenni M Ervasti5,
  5. Mika Kivimäki4,6,7,
  6. Jussi Vahtera1,2,
  7. Sari Stenholm1,2
  1. 1 Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
  2. 2 Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
  3. 3 Development of Work and Organizations, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
  4. 4 Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  5. 5 Work Organizations, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
  6. 6 Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
  7. 7 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Maria Alhainen, Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland; majoalh{at}utu.fi

Abstract

Study objectives To examine the association between sleep duration and sleep difficulties with different types and causes of workplace and commuting injuries.

Methods The data were derived from the Finnish Public Sector study including 89.543 participants (178.309 person-observations). Participants reported their sleep duration and sleep difficulties between 2000 and 2012. These were linked to occupational injury records from the national register maintained by the Federation of Accident Insurance Institutions. Risk of injuries was followed up 1 year after each study wave. Logistic regression analysis with generalised estimating equations (GEEs) was used to examine the association between sleep duration/difficulties and risk of injuries, and multinomial logistic regression with GEE was used to examine the association with injury types and causes.

Results Both sleep duration and difficulties were associated with injuries. Employees with short sleep (≤6.5 hours) had 1.07-fold odds of workplace injuries (95% CI 1.00 to 1.14) and 1.14 times higher odds of commuting injuries (95% CI 1.04 to 1.26) compared with employees with normal sleep duration. For employees with disturbed sleep, the corresponding ORs were 1.09-fold (95% CI 1.02 to 1.17) and 1.14-fold (95% CI 1.04 to 1.26) compared with those without sleep difficulties, respectively. The risk of commuting injuries was higher among those who had difficulty in falling asleep (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.55), woke up too early (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.23) or had non-restorative sleep (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.33).

Conclusions Short sleep duration and sleep difficulties are associated with slightly increased risk of workplace and commuting injuries.

  • sleep
  • transportation
  • accidents
  • occupational health

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2021-107516

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request.

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    Footnotes

    • JV and SS are joint senior authors.

    • Twitter @MikkoHaermae, @JenniErvasti1

    • Contributors MA, MH, JV and SS conceived the study idea. JE, MK and JV participated in the acquisition of the data. MA and JP conducted the analyses. MA drafted the first version of the manuscript, with critical revisions from MH, JP, JE, MK, JV and SS. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

    • Funding This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (grant number 332030 to SS and 311492 to MK) and NordForsk.

    • Disclaimer This was not an industry-supported study. The authors have indicated no financial

      conflicts of interests or competing interests.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.