Racial disparities in short sleep duration by occupation and industry

Abstract

Short sleep duration, which is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, has been shown to vary by occupation and industry, but few studies have investigated differences between black and white populations. By using data from a nationally representative sample of US adult short sleepers (n = 41,088) in the National Health Interview Survey in 2004-2011, we estimated prevalence ratios for short sleep duration in blacks compared with whites for each of 8 industry categories by using adjusted Poisson regression models with robust variance. Participants' mean age was 47 years; 50% were women and 13% were black. Blacks were more likely to report short sleep duration than whites (37% vs. 28%), and the black-white disparity was widest among those who held professional occupations. Adjusted short sleep duration was more prevalent in blacks than whites in the following industry categories: finance/information/real estate (prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.44, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.30, 1.59); professional/administrative/management (PR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.44); educational services (PR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.54); public administration/arts/other services (PR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.41); health care/social assistance (PR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.14, 1.32); and manufacturing/construction (PR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.20). Short sleep generally increased with increasing professional responsibility within a given industry among blacks but decreased with increasing professional roles among whites. Our results suggest the need for further investigation of racial/ethnic differences in the work-sleep relationship.

Keywords: industry; occupation; race; sleep; work.

Figure 1.

Trends in the age-adjusted prevalence of short sleep duration by industry of employment among blacks and whites, National Health Interview Survey, 2004–2011. A) Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting; mining; utilities; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; and transportation and warehousing industries (P for interaction = 0.54; for whites, P for trend = 0.28; for blacks, P for trend = 0.65). B) Retail trade industry (P for interaction = 0.88; for whites, P for trend = 0.94; for blacks, P for trend = 0.84). C) Information; finance and insurance; and real estate rental and leasing industries (P for interaction = 0.02; for whites, P for trend = 0.55; for blacks, P for trend = 0.31). D) Professional, scientific, and technical services; management of companies and enterprises; and administrative and support and waste management and remediation services industries (P for interaction = 0.04; for whites, P for trend = 0.73; for blacks, P for trend = 0.41). E) Educational services industry (P for interaction = 0.06; for whites, P for trend = 0.90; for blacks, P for trend = 0.40). F) Health care and social assistance industry (P for interaction = 0.99; for whites, P for trend = 0.86; for blacks, P for trend = 0.45). G) Accommodation and food services industry (P for interaction = 0.10; for whites, P for trend = 0.86; for blacks, P for trend = 0.83). H) Public administration; other services; and arts, entertainment, and recreation industries (P for interaction = 0.75; for whites, P for trend = 0.32; for blacks, P for trend = 0.11). Diamonds represent whites and squares represent blacks.