Irregular Work Hours and the Risk of Sleep Disturbance Among Korean Service Workers Required to Suppress Emotion

Sehyun Yun,Minsuk Kim,Jin-Ha Yoon,Jong-Uk Won,Won-Tae Lee

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041517

Abstract

Although a necessity in a modern society, irregular work schedule can lead to sleep problems. We investigated the effect of work schedule irregularity on sleep disturbance of 17,846 Korean service workers using the fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for sleep disturbance occurrence were calculated through a multiple logistic regression model. The adjusted ORs for moderate and severe sleep disturbances for those with irregular work hours were 2.11 (95% CI 1.90–2.33) and 3.10 (95% CI 2.62–3.66), respectively. Work schedule irregularity and emotion suppression at work showed synergistic effect on both moderate and severe sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances can lead to brain function deterioration and work-related injuries; therefore, appropriate measures should be addressed for the vulnerable population.

Highlights

It is evident that traditional work hours are not sufficient to fully meet the needs of a 24 h modern society
An irregular work schedule was found to be associated with both moderate and severe sleep disturbances. Another factor associated with sleep disturbances was the magnitude of emotion suppression at work
When compared to the reference group (“regular work schedule and no emotion suppression”), the odds ratio (OR) of severe sleep disturbance for “regular work schedule and always emotion suppression” was 1.41, the OR for “irregular work schedule and no emotion suppression” was 1.53, and the OR for “irregular work schedule and always emotion suppression” was 6.39, which indicates the presence of a synergistic effect between work schedule regularity and emotion suppression on sleep disturbance

Summary

Introduction

It is evident that traditional work hours are not sufficient to fully meet the needs of a 24 h modern society. Various working hours have been implemented to accommodate for 24 h services, production, or emergency medical care. There are growing evidences that link nurses but all shift workers to numerous adverse health outcomes, including increased risk factors for cardiovascular disease [9,10,11], metabolic syndrome [12], and autoimmune hypothyroidism [13]. Individuals with irregular work schedules often present misalignment of the circadian rhythm with their sleep–awake schedules This discrepancy between the two cycles results in poor sleep quality, reduced sleep hours, and excessive day drowsiness [15,16]. Some studies showed that increases in work demands, including both physical and emotional workloads, lead to a higher risk of developing insomnia [17,18]. It has been shown that, for service workers, emotional demand is much higher when they are required to suppress emotion at workplace, because regulating emotion mandates mental effort, leading to emotional burnout [20,21]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion