1210 Employment Status and Work Shift Associated with Endorsement of Sleep Disorders Symptoms: Data from the Online Sleep Health Screening Project

Abstract Introduction While shift work is linked to sleep disruption, less is known about the impact specific work characteristics on clinical sleep symptoms. We examined whether employment status and schedule were associated with different sleep disorder symptom reports. Methods Participants completed an online sleep health screener that is posted online and available to the public (https://sleephealthscreen.com). This consists of the Sleep Disorders Symptom Check List (SDSCL), which includes 25 items related to sleep disorder symptoms, rated as “Never,” “Once a month,” “1-2 times a week,” “3-4 times a week,” or “5-7 times a week.” Employment and work shift was addressed with an item where respondents indicated whether they primarily worked a day shift (9am-5am), morning shift (4am-12pm), night shift (12am-8am), multiple shifts, if they worked from home, if they were retired, or if they were unemployed. All responses are anonymous. All consecutive responses to the questionnaire were included, following cleaning for duplicate and invalid entries. Ordinal regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, work hours, and presence of a bed partner. Results A total of 3,091 individuals provided complete data. Compared to people who generally work a day shift (9am-5am), those working morning hours (4am-12pm) were more likely to endorse insufficient sleep, irregularity, and phase advance. Those working night shift (12am-8am) were more likely to report difficulty falling asleep and early morning awakenings, more fatigue, and more interference with functioning. They were less likely to report bruxism. Those who report that they primarily work from home were less likely to endorse insufficient sleep but more likely to report difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep and early morning awakenings, more fatigue, sleepiness, dry mouth, breathing pauses, gasping, uncomfortable sensations in legs, urge to move legs, frequent awakenings, and more interference with functioning. Those working multiple shifts across the day reported more bruxism. Retired individuals were more likely to report insufficient sleep. Conclusion Although night shift work has become recognized as having adverse impacts on sleep, more research is needed to explore whether working early morning hours and working from home adversely impact sleep health. Support (if any) R01MD011600, R01MH135978