Sleep and Self-Rated Health in an Aging Workforce

Nonrestorative sleep and its association with insomnia severity, sleep debt, and social jetlag in adults: Variations in relevant factors among age groups

OBJECTIVE

Nonrestorative sleep (NRS) is unrefreshing sleep that is harmful to mental and physical health. Although few studies have reported the relationship between NRS and sleep problems, none have evaluated this relationship by age group. This study aimed to determine whether NRS could be associated with insomnia severity, sleep debt, and social jetlag and whether this relationship would vary with age.

METHODS

The 1592 participants were allocated into age groups: 18-25 years (n = 317), 26-40 years (n = 405), 41-65 years (n = 454), and >65 years (n = 416). The study used Restorative Sleep Questionnaire to assess NRS, Athens Insomnia Scale to assess insomnia severity, Sleep Debt Index to assess sleep debt, and the absolute difference in midpoints of sleep between weekdays and days off to assess social jetlag.

RESULTS

Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between NRS and sleep problems. In the 18-25-year group, insomnia severity, sleep debt of ≥2 h, and social jetlag of ≥2 h; in the 26-40-year group, insomnia severity and sleep debt of ≥2 h; in the 41-65-year group, insomnia severity and sleep debt of ≥2 h; and in the >65-year group, insomnia severity were significantly associated with NRS.

CONCLUSION

NRS was associated with insomnia severity in all age groups, with sleep debt in the young and working-age groups and social jetlag in the young age group. Different approaches to improving the NRS are required for different age groups.

Self-rated health and the risk of incident chronic kidney disease: a community‐based Korean study

BACKGROUND

The relationship between self-rated health (SRH) and the development of incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) has not been explored in the general population.

METHODS

We reviewed the data of 7027 participants in the Ansung-Ansan cohort study. SRH was categorized as poor, fair, or good, and the outcome was the development of CKD, defined as the first event of an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m², at least twice during the follow-up period. Hazard ratios (HRs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.

RESULTS

Over a mean follow-up duration of 11.9 years, 951 participants (13.5%) developed CKD. Compared with poor self-rated health, the HR (95% CI) of fair self-rated health for incident CKD development was 0.771 (0.657-0.905; P = 0.001), whereas that of good self-rated health was 0.795 (0.676-0.935; P = 0.006). However, the renal hazard of good self-rated health did not differ from that of fair self-rated health. In the fully adjusted model, the HR (95% CI) of poor self-rated health compared to non-poor self-rated health for incident CKD was 1.278 (1.114-1.465, P < 0.001). Old age, smoking, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, impaired sleep, and high levels of C-reactive protein and white blood cell counts were associated with increased odds of poor self-rated health, whereas male sex, college graduate level of education, and alcohol consumption were associated with decreased odds of poor self-rated health.

CONCLUSION

Poor self-rated health is independently associated with CKD development. Therefore, the early detection of potential CKD patients through a brief questionnaire assessment may help control the incidence of CKD.

Feasibility of a new homebased ballistocardiographic tool for sleep-assessment in a real-life context among workers

BACKGROUND: There is a need for simple and suitable tools for assessing sleep in a natural home environment. OBJECTIVES: This study explores the feasibility in terms of implementation and acceptability of a new homebased ballistocardiographic (BCG) tool for objective sleep-assessment in a real-life context. METHODS: The participants included thirty-nine workers, taking part in two seven nights’ sleep-assessment periods. Objective data regarding sleep was collected with BCG. Subjective data regarding sleep was collected with a sleep diary. Implementation was analysed by determining the number of nights with usable signal quality and comparing with the total number of potential nights and by exploring associations between objective and subjective sleep data. Acceptability was analysed by categorizing the participants’ experiences of how the BCG tool impacted the sleep. RESULTS: In terms of implementation, usable BCG data increased from 40% at assessment phase 1 to 70% during assessment phase 2. Moreover, in assessment phase 2, there was a significant moderate correlation between the ‘time in bed’ assessed by the BCG and in sleep diary by participants in the first five nights. In terms of acceptability, almost one third of the participants did not experience any impact of the BCG on the sleep. Two participants experienced a major negative impact on the sleep. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the novel BCG tool could be feasible for objective assessing of sleep in workers natural home-environment in the future, but there is still a need for development of the BCG both regarding technology and implementation process.

The link between fear about COVID-19 and insomnia: mediated by economic concerns and psychological distress, moderated by mindfulness

This paper adds to extant research by examining the relationship between employees’ fear of coronavirus disease 2019 and their suffering from insomnia. It specifically proposes mediating roles of employees' economic concerns and psychological distress and a moderating role of mindfulness in this process. The research hypotheses are tested with survey data collected through two studies among Pakistani-based professionals: 316 in study 1 and 421 in study 2. The results pinpoint a salient risk for employees who experience fear during a pandemic crisis, in that the associated economic and psychological hardships make the situation worse by undermining their sleep quality, which eventually could diminish the quality of their lives even further. It also reveals how organizations can mitigate this risk if employees can leverage pertinent personal resources, such as mindfulness.

O cenário do mercado de trabalho para idosos e a violência sofrida

Resumo Objetivo analisar sistematicamente as publicações referentes ao cenário do mercado de trabalho para idosos e às situações de violência enfrentadas pelos idosos ativos. Método foi realizada uma revisão integrativa da literatura nas bases de dados Web of Science, Scielo (Scientific Electronic Library Online) PubMed e Science Direct. Resultados foram encontrados 19 trabalhos, 89,4% dos casos de origem internacional, sendo 52,6% com abordagem quantitativa; 31,5%, qualitativa; e, 15,7%, mista. As áreas do conhecimento que concentraram a maioria dos estudos foram saúde, psicologia e gerontologia com 15,7%, sendo a maior parte dos estudos publicados nos anos de 2019, com 31,5% e 26,3% de recorrências respectivamente. Conclusão os estudos evidenciaram que os idosos encontram dificuldades de se manterem no mercado de trabalho pelas inadequações do local de trabalho e pela condição de saúde do idoso. Por outro lado, existem iniciativas governamentais que visam melhorar as condições de trabalho dos longevos, sendo a presença do idoso benéfica para sua saúde e também para o mercado. Em relação à violência sofrida no trabalho, os estudos são escassos, e os existentes destacam as dificuldades de entrada e permanência dos longevos no mercado em detrimento do ageismo e dos estereótipos ligados ao envelhecimento. Finalmente, com o envelhecimento da população considera-se importante pensar políticas públicas que proporcionem ao idoso condições adequadas de se manter ativo com a proteção de sua saúde e qualidade de vida.