Night shift work and sleep duration among middle and older age adults: The role of individual, social, and environmental moderators

Abstract

Sleep is a critical yet often overlooked outcome in sociological inquiries into health disparities, acting as a crucial mechanism through which stress translates into health problems. This study investigates the impact of night shift work on sleep duration, a significant but under-explored area in social science research. Utilizing data from 217,863 participants in the UK Biobank, we examine how night shift work impacts sleep duration among middle-aged and older adults in the UK. Findings identify key moderating factors from individual, familial, environmental, and structural levels that influence the night shift work and sleep relationships. Our study highlights significant gender differences, with female night shift workers facing more pronounced impacts on sleep duration due to familial obligations, and reveals educational stratification in sleep duration impacts, suggesting that socio-economic factors play a crucial role. Additionally, individuals with irregular night shift patterns exhibit heightened vulnerability to sleep duration compared to their counterparts with consistent or no night shift work. Our study is also one of the first in finding that the night shift work and sleep relationship is subject to geographic latitude. While the sleep duration for non-night shift workers remains consistent across latitudes, there is a noticeable increase in sleep duration for night shift workers as latitude rises.