Study suggests sleeping well keeps middle-aged people fit to stay in work longer

Getting good sleep in midlife is vital in helping people stay working for longer, research suggests.

Population studies showed sleeping longer than the NHS advises of nine hours or more, or waking regularly in the night, were linked to leaving the workforce earlier. Two studies of workers aged 50 to 68 in Finland showed the less well off who slept too much appear to be most likely to have to quit work early.

Author Dr Saana Myllyntausta, of the University of Turku in Finland, said: "To promote older adults' participation in working life, supporting sleep of recommended length and good quality may be required.”

The first study tracked 70,000 public sector staff from 2000 to 2016 and another followed 6,071 working age adults from 1998 to 2013.

Data on sleep was collected and participants were categorised as either short (under seven hours), mid-range (seven to eight and a half hours) and long (nine or more hours).

The longest life expectancy was around 13 years seven months among men and women in professional roles and short sleep lengths.

The shortest was six years five months, among men in routine jobs with low levels of education who slept for more than nine hours a night. Sleeping over nine hours regularly can be a sign of undiagnosed ill health.

Sleep disturbances included problems falling or staying asleep and waking too early. People who reported no disturbances had a working life expectancy of 13 years five months.

This was compared with 13 years among those moderately disturbed two to four nights a week, and 12 years 10 months among people whose sleep was disturbed almost every night.

The longest working life expectancy - almost 14 years - was among professional women who reported no sleep disturbances. The shortest - almost 12.5 years - was among men with severe sleep disturbances.

Dr Myllyntausta added: “Promoting sleep health and providing support for managing sleep disturbances at midlife may be especially important for those with a lower socioeconomic status when aiming to increase workforce participation with advancing age.

“This could include cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia delivered by occupational health services or workplace interventions, such as educational or health promotion interventions for sleep.”

The latest findings, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, come after a separate study found nine in 10 people aged over 50 struggle with their sleep.

Edinburgh University conducted a year-long study of workers aged 50 to 66 and found 92% met the clinical threshold for a sleep disorder at least once.