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Work-related factors, sleep debt and insomnia in IT professionals

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Marketta Kivistö
Marketta Kivistö
Marketta Kivistö
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Mikko Ilmari Härmä at Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Mikko Ilmari Härmä
Mikael Sallinen at Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Mikael Sallinen
Raija Kalimo
Raija Kalimo
Raija Kalimo
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Abstract and Figures

Reduced sleep can be associated with a risk of health problems. Information technologies (IT) professionals often work long hours and this could have an effect on their sleep quality. To examine the prevalence of sleep debt, insomnia and long working hours among Finnish IT professionals and to analyse which specific work-related factors are associated with shortened sleep. Cross-sectional, representative data from a questionnaire survey of IT professionals. Hierarchical regression analyses were applied to investigate relationships of sleep debt and insomnia. A total of 2,334 IT professionals responded to the survey. Thirty-seven per cent reported sleep debt of at least 1 h and 6% of at least 2 h, while 16% reported insomnia. Twenty-seven per cent worked for a minimum of 50 h a week, while 31% spent at least 50 h a week on work. The most important factors associated with both sleep debt and insomnia were work-related demands requiring long hours, mental stamina and problem solving and positive perceptions of work, such as job control and importance of the respondents' own work in their life. Even though long working hours were common among IT professionals in Finland, sleep debt and insomnia were not. Work-related factors were associated with insufficient sleep.
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Occupational Medicine 2008;58:138–140
Published online 22 January 2008 doi:10.1093/occmed/kqm150
SHORT REPORT
Work-related factors, sleep debt and insomnia in
IT professionals
Marketta Kivisto
¨
1
, Mikko Ha
¨
rma
¨
2
, Mikael Sallinen
2
and Raija Kalimo
3
Background Reduced sleep can be associated with a risk of health problems. Information technologies (IT)
professionals often work long hours and this could have an effect on their sleep quality.
Aims To examine the prevalence of sleep debt, insomnia and long working hours among Finnish IT
professionals and to analyse which specific work-related factors are associated with shortened sleep.
Methods Cross-sectional, representative data from a questionnaire survey of IT professionals. Hierarchical
regression analyses were applied to investigate relationships of sleep debt and insomnia.
Results A total of 2334 IT professionals responded to the survey. Thirty-seven per cent reported sleep debt
of at least 1 h and 6% of at least 2 h, while 16% reported insomnia. Twenty-seven per cent worked
for a minimum of 50 h a week, while 31% spent at least 50 h a week on work. The most important
factors associated with both sleep debt and insomnia were work-related demands requiring long
hours, mental stamina and problem solving and positive perceptions of work, such as job control and
importance of the respondents’ own work in their life.
Conclusions Even though long working hours were common among IT professionals in Finland, sleep debt and
insomnia were not. Work-related factors were associated with insufficient sleep.
Key words Insomnia; IT professionals; sleep debt; work; working hours.
Introduction
The global uptake of information technologies (IT) has
fuelled the emergence of a 24-h society by providing peo-
ple with the opportunity to work unlimited by the bound-
aries of time and space. In the work of IT professionals,
this development is further enabled by flexible working
hours. This could possibly generate risks for health and
recovery from work (e.g. over commitment to work and
insufficient sleep). Long working hours and reduced
sleep have both been found to be associated with a higher
risk of health problems. However, the relationship be-
tween long working hours and psychological health
remains uncertain [1–3].
The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of
sleep debt, insomnia and long working hours among
Finnish IT professionals and to identify work factors as-
sociated with sleep problems.
Methods
A questionnaire was sent out in 2001 to 5000 IT profes-
sionals who were members of the Finnish Information
Processing Association (FIPA), an independent associa-
tion of Finnish IT professionals and companies that ei-
ther provide or utilize IT products and services. In order
to ensure a sufficient representation of programmers in
the sample, we used stratified sampling with varying
probabilities. The construction of the target sample
(5000) began with the inclusion of 234 programmers
found in a sample of 10 000 people extracted from the
mass of 25 000 FIPA members (excluding students).
The rest (4766) of the target samples (5000) were chosen
on the basis of a random selection of all the members of
FIPA. FIPA members constitute one-third of all Finnish
IT professionals. Of these 5000 IT professionals, 4624
were included in the study. The 376 exclusions were for
1
Centre of Expertise for Health and Work Ability, Finnish Institute of
Occupational Health, Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland.
2
Centre of Expertise for Human Factors at Work, Finnish Institute of
Occupational Health, Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland.
3
Professor (emerita) of Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (retired).
Correspondence to: Marketta Kivisto¨, Centre of Expertise for Health and
Work Ability, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A,
FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland. Tel: 1358 304741; fax: 1358 304742651;
e-mail: marketta.kivisto@ttl.fi
The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine.
All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
by guest on June 1, 2013http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from
individuals who declared themselves to be unemployed,
retired or otherwise uninvolved in work life for .6
months immediately before responding.
Self-reported sleep debt [4] (the difference between
self-reported sleep need and self-reported sleep length)
and insomnia [5] were the dependent factors used in
hierarchical regression analyses. The independent factors
were perceptions of work and work demands (see
Table 1). Adjustment was made for age, gender and
early/late-riser type. The results of the factor analyses of
demands and perceptions of work were used to inform
the regression analyses.
Results
A total of 2334 (50%) of the 4624 IT professionals
responded to the questionnaire. The job titles of the
respondents (71% of whom were men) were as follows:
23% were software designers, 15% managers, 11% pro-
grammers and testers, 8% project managers, 7% trainers
and consults, 6% technical support, 6% consultants,
5% administrators and 5% sales/purchasing personnel.
Fifty per cent of the respondents had a university educa-
tion. The group of respondents was representative of
Finnish IT professionals in all factors apart from age,
which was 6 years higher than the mean age of all FIPA
members.
The average self-reported sleep length of IT professio-
nals was 7.2 h and 37% reported a sleep debt of at least 1
h and 6% of at least 2 h. Only 16% of respondents
reported insomnia. Sleep debt was commoner in younger
people. Also, sleep length was longer and need of sleep
was higher among younger people. Insomnia was com-
moner in the older age group. Sleep debt and insomnia
were commoner in women, and sleep debt was most com-
monly reported by late-riser types. The number of aver-
age weekly working hours was 44.3, and the average
amount of time spent on work and study was 45.2 h
a week. Twenty-seven per cent of the respondents spent
at least 50 h a week working. The average hours spent on
work per week were 43.5 in day workers (SD 7.6; n 5
1937), 50.7 in shift workers (SD 14.7; n 5 69), 43.4 in
workers who had a self-determined working time but an
agreed number of hours (610.2; n 5 92), 48.0 in workers
subject to agreements based on work achievements
(611.6; n 5 114) and 53.1 in workers with completely
undetermined working hours (612.8; n 5 81). Overtime
was reported by 82%, but only 16% reported receiving
monetary compensation for it.
After adjustment for age, gender and early/late-riser
type, the following perceptions of work were found
to be significantly associated with both sleep debt and
insomnia: importance of work in the person’s life, poor
job control, poor opportunities to develop and poor sup-
port from the person’s immediate superior. When work
demands were entered into the models regarding sleep
debt, long hours at work and demands for mental stamina
were found to be significantly associated with sleep debt
(Table 2).
Discussion
We have found that even though long working hours are
common among Finnish IT professionals, sleep debt or
Table 1. The independent factors of the study
The independent
factors of the study
Number
of items
Mean SD Gender Age (years)
Women
(n 5 680)
Men
(n 5 1644)
P 20–29
(n 5 151)
30–39
(n 5 691)
40–49
(n 5 789
50–69
(n 5 695)
P
Work demands [6,7] for:
Accuracy 4 3.6 0.8 3.6 3.6 ns 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 ns
Problem solving 4 4.1 0.6 4.1 4.1 ns 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 ns
Management 6 3.4 0.9 3.3 3.5 ,0.01** 3.3 3.3 3.5 3.5 ,0.001***
Mental stamina 4 4.4 0.5 4.5 4.4 ,0.001*** 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.4 ns
Expertise 2 4.2 0.7 4.1 4.2 ,0.001*** 4.2 4.3 4.2 4.2 ,0.05*
New knowledge 3 3.4 0.8 3.2 3.5 ,0.001*** 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.4 ,0.01**
Languages 1 3.8 1.0 3.6 3.9 ,0.001*** 3.9 3.9 3.8 3.7 ,0.001***
Long hours 1 45.2 9.2 44.0 45.8 ,0.001*** 46.2 45.7 45.3 44.5 ,0.05*
Perceptions of work [7,8]
Importance of work 7 3.3 0.7 3.3 3.2 ns 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.3 ns
Job control 9 4.0 0.6 3.9 4.0 ,0.001*** 4.1 4.0 3.9 4.0 ,0.01**
Opportunity to develop 3 3.2 0.8 1.2 3.3 ,0.05* 3.6 3.3 3.2 3.1 ,0.001***
Support from managers 3 3.1 0.7 3.3 3.3 ns 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.3 ,0.01**
Statistical differences in the means according to age and gender, n 5 2334; ns 5 not significant.
*P , 0.05; **P , 0.01; ***P , 0.001.
M. KIVISTO
¨
ET AL.: WORK-RELATED FACTORS IN IT PROFESSIONALS 139
by guest on June 1, 2013http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from
insomnia are not. The proportion of those working for at
least 50 h a week (27%) was higher than in the general
population in Finland (16%). Sleep debt was most com-
mon among the youngest and insomnia among the oldest
respondents, which is compatible with previous observa-
tions [9]. Young men reported spending more time on
work and study than others. Considering that the per-
centage of those who replied in this age group was smaller
than expected, it is possible that the amount of time spent
on work and study by young men in the IT sector is in
reality even greater.
There was a strong correlation found between the im-
portance placed on work and long working hours and
shortened sleep. This could reflect IT professionals’
strong commitment to work, which can be very stressful.
However, as 66% of the subjects did not receive payment
for overtime, this result can be more easily understood if
we suppose that the employees working long hours were
perhaps internally motivated to do so.
Work-related factors were associated with insufficient
sleep. A more positive perception of work and more suit-
able work demands might reduce sleep debt and insom-
nia and thus promote recovery from work. Because work-
related factors explained only a small part of the variance
in sleep debt and insomnia, there are still other, perhaps
individual, factors that impact sleep problems and merit
further study.
Funding
Finnish Work Environment Fund (100318, 103484
to M. K.; 105018 to M. K.) and Finnish Institution of
Occupational Health.
Acknowledgements
The present study forms part of the larger project ‘Decent
Work—A Sound of Life’ established by the Finnish Institution
of Occupational Health. The authors also wish to thank the
FIPA for their help in developing and collecting the database
used in this analysis.
Conflicts of interest
None declared.
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Table 2. Perceptions of work and work demands associated with
sleep debt and insomnia
Sleep debt
(n 5 2151)
Insomnia
(n 5 2151)
Step 1
Early/late-riser type 0.18*** ÿ0.09***
Age ÿ0.10*** ns
Gender ÿ0.11*** ns
Initial R
2
0.06*** 0.01***
Step 2 (perceptions of work)
Job control ÿ0.13*** ÿ0.11***
Importance of work 0.09*** 0.13***
Support from superior ÿ0.06*** ÿ0.10***
Opportunity to develop ÿ0.05* ÿ0.10***
R
2
change 0.04*** 0.06***
Step 3 (work demands for)
Long hours 0.11*** 0.05*
Mental stamina 0.10*** 0.05*
Languages ns ns
Management skills ns ns
Problem solving ns 0.08**
New knowledge ns ns
Accuracy ns ns
R
2
change 0.02*** 0.02***
Final R
2
0.12 0.09
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses (forced entry), standardized beta
weights; ns 5 not significant. *P , 0.05; **P , 0.01; ***P , 0.001.
Key points
• Long working hours are common among IT pro-
fessionals in Finland, while sleep debt and insom-
nia are not.
• With long working hours, internal motivation
seems to serve as a protection against stress.
• Suitable work demands and positive perceptions
of work may promote better sleep.
140 OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE
by guest on June 1, 2013http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from
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Thesis
  • Jan 2022
Introduction Burnout was first described in 1974 by the clinical psychologist Herbert Freudenberger. Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that results from long-term involvement in work situations that are emotionally demanding. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) were most used instruments to assess burnout. Burnout cause total losses of US$4.6 billion in the United States each year and affects approximately half of all nurses, physicians, and other clinicians. In addition, burnout also affects patient-related quality of care. The previous studies demonstrated burnout is related to work-related injuries (WRIs) and increase in the risk of injury. The present study would establish the relationship models of burnout to identify risk factors of burnout and explore the relationship between burnout and WRIs/sharps injuries (SIs) for medical worker. Methods and materials This is an observational and cross-sectional study which was based on members at a hospital affiliated with a medical university in Taichung, Taiwan, in 2021. 1633 individuals completed the questionnaires including Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and the Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI). CBI included three burnout scales that are personal burnout (PB), work-related burnout (WB) and client burnout (CB), respectively. Among them, 1250 questionnaires were determined to be valid after exclusion for missing data. Statistical methods included t test, chi-square test or fisher exact test, factor analysis, linear regression, and Sobel test. Analysis was conducted using SAS Enterprise Guide 6.1 software, and significance was set at P < 0.05. Results The present study demonstrated participants with master’s degree or above or married or parenthood significantly reported low level for WB and CB than others and those with regular exercise every week (REW) reported low level for PB, WB and CB than others. Participants with chronic diseases (CD) or ever alcohol use (AU) or sleep duration per day less than 6 h (SSLD) or work overtime (OT) or shift work including irregular shift (IRS) and regular shift (RS) work or physicians/nurses reported high level for PB, WB and CB than others. Work experience (WE) and engaging in leisure activities with family or friends (LAFF) in vacation were negatively related to PB, WB and CB. Neck and both shoulders pain (NBSP) was positively related to PB, WB and CB. Both ankles pain (BAP) and both knees pain (BKP) was positively related to PB and WB. Sex difference of burnout was associated with sex--dominated occupations. Under low proportion of women than men in physician field, women physicians significantly reported high WB than man physicians. PB/WB/CB was closely relevant to WRIs/SIs and was mediation factors between WRIs/SIs and SSLD, or work OT, or IRS work, or Nurse, or NBSP. PB/WB mediated the relationship between WRIs/SIs and CD or BKP, too. However, PB/WB only mediated the relationship between WRIs and BAP. Conclusion The present study has determined the reasons of burnout development by three burnout scales and statistical methods. In addition, we also determined seldom engaging in leisure activity with family and friends, lack of sleep, AU, OT and shift, CD, and MS pain will increase burnout degree, which will further raise incidence of WRIs/SIs. Therefore, the prevention plans of WRIs should include the high-risk identification mechanism of burnout and early find the high-risk employee of work injuries to further relieve burnout symptoms and effectively avoid occurrence for injuries.
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nutrients-14-01202
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2022
Citation: Nasui, B.A.; Toth, A.; Popescu, C.A.; Penes, O.N.; Varlas, V.N.; Ungur, R.A.; Ciuciuc, N.; Silaghi, A.C.; Silaghi, H.; Pop, A.L.
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Comparative Study on Nutrition and Lifestyle of InformationTechnology Workers from Romania before and duringCOVID-19 Pandemic
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2022
The study aimed to evaluate lifestyle factors among Information Technology (IT) workersfrom Romania before and during the pandemic. We used an online applied questionnaire, filled inby 1638 respondents, that assessed nutrition status-Body Mass Index (BMI), weight and diet change,physical activity, alcohol consumption, number of hours working in front of the computer, stress, andsleep. Multivariate logistic regression was used to establish the lifestyle factors that lead to weightgain. Although the level of physical activity (PA) was low before the pandemic, the results of ourstudy showed a further decrease in physical activity. In total, 61.1% of men and 71.1% of womenperformed PA for less than 30 min per day. Weight gain was reported in 50.5% of men and 45.3% ofwomen (mean weight gain was 5.11±3.52 kg) as a result of increased screen time (with a mean of3.52±4.29 for females and 3.05±2.09 for males,p> 0.05 h per day) and the reported changes in diet.Despite the popularity of home-cooked foods, the intake of vegetables and fruit remained low. Thequality of sleep was poor for 55.7% of the respondents. Public health and corporation policies arerequired to encourage a healthy lifestyle and avoid chronic diseases.Keywords:IT workers; pandemic; pre-pandemic; lifestyle; diet; screen time; physical activity;stress; sleep.
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When a Good Day Makes for a Good Night: Antecedents of Sleep and Morning States
Article
Full-text available
Sleep is linked to critical outcomes in the work context including job attitudes, job performance, and health. This study examines daily positive behaviors (i.e., task accomplishment) and positive experiences (i.e., job satisfaction) at work as well as outside of work (i.e., psychological detachment from work in the evening) as positive antecedents of sleep quality. Specifically, the study tested a moderated mediation model in which job satisfaction and psychological detachment from work interact with daily task accomplishment to predict sleep quality and in turn positive affect and self-efficacy the following morning. Based on daily survey data over five consecutive workdays, results from multilevel structural equation modeling indicate that daily task accomplishment alone was neither significantly related to sleep quality nor positive affect or self-efficacy the following morning. However, sleep quality was positively and significantly linked to positive states the following morning. Furthermore, both job satisfaction and detachment from work moderated the association between daily task accomplishment and sleep quality. Specifically, the conditional indirect effects from task accomplishment to positive affect and self-efficacy via sleep quality were significant and positive when both daily job satisfaction and detachment from work were high, and when job satisfaction was low and detachment was high. The results point to the role of the interaction between positive experiences for sleep and next morning outcomes.
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New Measures of Job Control, Cognitive Demand, and Production Responsibility
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 1993
Recent research has highlighted several job characteristics salient to employee well-being and behavior for which there are no adequate generally applicable measures. These include timing and method control, monitoring and problem-solving demand, and production responsibility. In this article, an attempt to develop measures of these constructs provided encouraging results. Confirmatory factor analyses applied to data from 2 samples of shop-floor employees showed a consistent fit to a common 5-factor measurement model. Scales corresponding to each of the dimensions showed satisfactory internal and test–retest reliabilities. As expected, the scales also discriminated between employees in different jobs and employees working with contrasting technologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Measurement of job and work involvement
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 1982
Developed separate measures of job and work constructs using 3 techniques: semantic differential, questionnaire, and graphic. Assessment measures included the Job Involvement and Work Involvement Questionnaires, Job Involvement and Work Involvement Semantic Differentials, and Job Involvement and Work Involvement Graphic scales. Data collected from a heterogeneous sample of 703 employees are analyzed to establish reliability, construct validity, and criterion-related validity of each measure. Results reveal that questionnaire and graphic measures pass the tests of reliability and validity. Semantic differential measures, however, have questionable validity for measuring work involvement and should, perhaps, be limited to only highly educated samples of respondents. Results also support the conceptual distinction between job and work involvement. (19 ref)
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Total workload, work stress and percieved symtoms in Swedish male and female white-collar employees
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2005
The aim of this study was to analyse how paid work, unpaid household tasks, child care, work-child care interactions and perceived work stress are associated with reported symptoms in male and female white-collar employees. A questionnaire was mailed to 1300 men and 1300 women belonging to the white-collar sector, with at least 35 hours of regular employment a week and a participant age of between 32 and 58 years. It contained items relating to total workload (hours spent on paid work, unpaid household tasks and childcare), subjective indices for work stress and symptoms. The response rate was 65% (743 women; 595 men). Gender difference in symptom prevalence was tested by analyses of variance. Odds ratios were used to estimate the bivariate associations between work-related variables and symptom prevalence. A multivariate analysis estimated the effect of paid and unpaid work interaction, work-childcare interplay and possible synergy. The frequency and severity of symptoms was higher in women than in men (P < 0.0001). Employed women's health was determined by the interaction between conditions at work and household duties (OR 2.09; 1.06-4.14), whereas men responded more selectively to long working hours, i.e. >50 h/week (OR 1.61; 1.02-2.54). However, childcare (<21 h/week) appeared to have a buffer effect on the risk of a high level of symptoms in men working long hours. Working life and private circumstances and the interplay between them need to be taken into account to curb stress-related ill health in both men and women.
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Moderators of the Relationship Between Long Work Hours and Health
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2005
The authors examined how associations between work hours and self-reported health are moderated by the reasons given for working overtime, by schedule autonomy, and by the degree of social support experienced, in a survey of 372 train drivers. Respondents who lacked both schedule autonomy and social support demonstrated positive associations between the number of hours worked per week and frequency of physical health symptoms. Conversely, negative associations were observed among respondents reporting low schedule autonomy together with high social support. There were no such interactions in the analyses of fatigue and psychological health outcomes. The findings are discussed in terms of the fit between an individual's actual and desired work hours. The problems of identifying appropriate limits for work hours are highlighted.
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Overtime and Need for Recovery in Relation to Job Demands and Job Control
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2006
This study addressed the prevalence of working overtime in relation to psychosocial work characteristics and need for recovery. More precisely, the aim of this study was to find out (1) whether a relationship exists between working overtime and psychosocial work characteristics (job demands and job control), (2a) whether a relationship exists between working overtime and need for recovery, and finally (2b) whether such a relationship depends on job type (a specific combination of job demands and job control). The study sample (N=1,473) consisted of a national random sample of office-based municipal administration employees who worked full-time. These employees completed a questionnaire on working conditions, overtime and need for recovery, among other things. Overtime was especially common in jobs characterised by high demands. The analyses showed that working overtime is not associated with a higher need for recovery in the total study population. However, there was a positive relationship between overtime hours and need for recovery in high strain jobs (high demands, low control). Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between structural overtime and need for recovery in active jobs (high demands, high control). The relationship between overtime and need for recovery seems to be dependent upon working conditions; indicators of overtime were associated with a higher need for recovery only for employees who experienced high job demands. Longitudinal research within a heterogeneous sample will be necessary to draw firm conclusions about causality with respect to the relationship between overtime, need for recovery and working conditions.
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Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire (BNSQ): A quantitated measure of subjective sleep complaints
Article
  • Jun 1995
  • J SLEEP RES
SUMMARY Sleep-related breathing disturbances, especially obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), are commonly encountered. Epidemiological studies from different countries have shown that poor sleep and complaints about insufficient sleep or poor sleep are often related to poor health. Different studies are, however, difficult to compare with each other. One of the main reasons for this is the frequent methodological differences between questionnaires. There is a need for uniform methods: we need to know the prevalence and incidence of sleep disorders, judged using the same criteria, and also the severity of each problem, i.e. how often a problem or a symptom happens/occurs. In 1988 the Scandinavian Sleep Research Society formed a task group for developing a standardized questionnaire that could be used as a basis for questionnaires used in the Nordic countries. In this article we describe the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire (BNSQ). The main change compared to many previous questionnaires is the five-point scale (scale from 1 to 5) stressing on how many nights/days per week something happens. The basic scale is: 1, ‘never or less than once per month’; 2, ‘less than once per week’; 3, ‘on 1–2 nights per week’; 4, ‘on 3–5 nights per week’; and 5, ‘every night or almost every night’. For questions about specific rare events the first category may be divided into ‘never’ and ‘less than once per month’. Habitually occurring events such as ‘habitual snoring’ are defined here as snoring every night or almost every night. The BNSQ has been used widely in a variety of studies performed in Nordic countries during the last years, and it has proven to be a valid tool.
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Insufficient sleep - A population-based study in adults
Article
  • Jun 2001
Insufficient sleep (sleep deprivation) is a common problem of considerable health, social, and economical impact. We assessed its prevalence and associations, and the role of genetic influences. Panel study based on questionnaires administered in 1981 and 1990. 12.423 subjects aged 33-60 years included in the Finnish Twin Cohort, representative of the Finnish population. N/A. A difference of 1 hour between the self-reports of the sleep need and the sleep length was considered insufficient sleep. Associations with education, life style, work, psychological characteristics and sleep-wake variables were assessed. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to compare genetic models among monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. In 1990, the prevalence of insufficient sleep was 20.4% (16.2% in men and 23.9% in women). 44% of those with insufficient sleep in 1981 also had it 9 years later (Spearman correlation for persistence 0.334). In multivariate analyses, the strongest positively associated factors were daytime sleepiness (women: odds ratio 3.87, 95% confidence limits 3.24-4.63/men: 3.77, 2.98-4.75), insomnia (2.48, 1.92-3.19/2.91, 2.17-3.90), not able to sleep without disturbance (1.95, 1.47-2.60/2.54, 1.66-3.89), and evening type (2.10, 1.65-2.69/1.73, 1.25-2.41). Among men, also weekly working hours > or =75 was strongly associated (3.23, 1.54-6.78). "Not working" was negatively associated in both genders (0.68, 0.51-0.89/0.59, 0.42-0.83). Two thirds of the interindividual variability in the liability to insufficient sleep was attributed to non-genetic factors. Insufficient sleep is a common and long-standing condition, most strongly associated with sleep/wake variables. One third of the liability to it is attributed to genetic influences. Sleep sufficiency should be assesssed in health examinations of working adults.
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Job Characteristics and Burnout among Aging Professionals in Information and Communications Technology
Article
  • Nov 2005
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between job characteristics and burnout, i.e., exhaustion, cynicism and lack of professional efficacy, in a sample of 115 (49- to 61-yr.-old) information and communications technology professionals. Questionnaire survey data were collected at two time points. In 1995 (Time 1), higher quantitative overload and lower job control were associated with higher exhaustion. Job control was negatively associated with lack of professional efficacy. In 2001 (Time 2), quantitative overload and information overload were positively associated with exhaustion, but with job control negatively. Use of new information was negatively associated with cynicism. In addition, job control and use of new information were negatively associated with lack of professional efficacy. Job characteristics at Time 1 were not significantly associated with burnout at Time 2 when job characteristics at Time 2 were controlled.
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The prevalence of sleep debt and its association with fatigue, performance and accidents in the modern society
  • Jan 2000
  • 140-143
  • M Sallinen
  • M Härmä
  • R Kalimo
  • J Hakanen
Sallinen M, Härmä M, Kalimo R, Hakanen J. The prevalence of sleep debt and its association with fatigue, performance and accidents in the modern society. People Work Res Rep 2000;33:140-143.