Due to the rising strain of contemporary life and despite the bad consequences it has on our health, we tend to get less sleep and work more. A recent study suggests that a poor work-life balance in midlife may have harmful implications decades later.
Several studies have demonstrated that lengthy working hours are hazardous for one’s health, having significant consequences on cardiovascular and mental health.
Conversely, flexible working hours and schedules that employees have greater influence over have been found to have favorable impactsTrusted Source on health and well-being.
Despite this, many of us still have a terrible work-life balance, and we tend to sleep less. In 1910, a “normal” sleeping pattern was deemed an average of 9 hours each night, but nowadays, this has plummeted to roughly 7 hoursTrusted Source.
Damaging consequences include an increased risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, and mental problems, such as anxiety and depression.
Some studies have found that persons who work 55 hours or more per week have a 1.3 timesTrusted Source greater risk of stroke than those working regular hours.
Sleep deprivation has also been related to cardiovascular illness and an increased risk of mortality, triggering myocardial infarction and stroke.
Long working hours have also been related with an increased incidence of anxiety and depression. A 5-year study indicated the risk of getting depression in healthy adults is 1.66 times greater in those working more than 55 hours a week. The risk of anxiousness was 1.74 times greater.
Despite the recognized deleterious consequences of sleep deprivation and longer working schedules, no study has studied the combined effect of these two variables on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
How Work-life Balance In Midlife Influences Health In Later Life
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Researchers at The University of Jyväskylä in Finland intended to assess the impact of midlife sleep deprivation and long working hours on physical functioning and total HRQoL in later life.
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The study looked primarily at the association between working hours and sleep length.
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Researchers studied the HRQoL of 1,527 businesspeople born between 1919-1934. They obtained data in 1974 and then again 26 years later.
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The results of the study were published in Age and Ageing, the professional magazine of The British Geriatrics Society.
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The study employed the RAND-36 score to examine the HRQoL of white businessmen who worked more than 50 hours per week and slept fewer than 47 hours per week in midlife.
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The RAND score is a basic, universal survey tool composed of 36 items that medical care practitioners and academics use to evaluate treatment outcomes in adult patients. It relies on the respondents’ self-reporting.
-
The research investigated working hours, sleep length, and self-reported health concerns.
-
Considering typical work hours as 50 hours a week and normal sleep hours as 47 hours a week, researchers integrated work and sleep habits to come up with four categories: regular work and normal sleep, long work and normal sleep, normal work and short sleep, and long work and short sleep.
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In older age, individuals scored worse on the RAND scale for physical functioning, vitality, and general health, compared with those who had typical work and sleep routines.
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Businessmen with extended work hours but typical sleep patterns nonetheless received poorer ratings for physical functioning in elder age. Even taking into consideration midlife smoking, and other associated health concerns, the unfavorable effect on physical functioning remained considerable.
Read Also: Risks To Poor Work Life Balance
Findings Likely To Apply To Larger Populations
-
The study was inspired by the fact that modern-day businesspeople are under a specific amount of strain, with over 6 million people in Britain alone presently working more than 45 hours a week. However, the conclusions of the study are likely to apply to other groups of the population.
-
A 2014 Gallup research shows that Americans work an average of 47 hours per week, which is almost a full workday more than the conventional 9-5 schedule.
-
In fact, over 4 in 10 Americans claimed they work at least 50 hours on a weekly basis.
-
The results of the study reveal that although the impacts of a poor work-life balance may not be recognized immediately, the implications linger into senior age.
-
Cutting down on work hours and obtaining lots of rest as early in life as feasible might prevent detrimental health impacts in later age.
Kari Pettersen
Due to the rising strain of contemporary life and despite the bad consequences it has on our health, we tend to get less sleep and work more. A recent study suggests that a poor work-life balance in midlife may have harmful implications decades later.
Several studies have demonstrated that lengthy working hours are hazardous for one’s health, having significant consequences on cardiovascular and mental health.
Conversely, flexible working hours and schedules that employees have greater influence over have been found to have favorable impactsTrusted Source on health and well-being.
Despite this, many of us still have a terrible work-life balance, and we tend to sleep less. In 1910, a “normal” sleeping pattern was deemed an average of 9 hours each night, but nowadays, this has plummeted to roughly 7 hoursTrusted Source.
Damaging consequences include an increased risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, and mental problems, such as anxiety and depression.
Some studies have found that persons who work 55 hours or more per week have a 1.3 timesTrusted Source greater risk of stroke than those working regular hours.
Sleep deprivation has also been related to cardiovascular illness and an increased risk of mortality, triggering myocardial infarction and stroke.
Long working hours have also been related with an increased incidence of anxiety and depression. A 5-year study indicated the risk of getting depression in healthy adults is 1.66 times greater in those working more than 55 hours a week. The risk of anxiousness was 1.74 times greater.
Despite the recognized deleterious consequences of sleep deprivation and longer working schedules, no study has studied the combined effect of these two variables on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
How Work-life Balance In Midlife Influences Health In Later Life
Researchers at The University of Jyväskylä in Finland intended to assess the impact of midlife sleep deprivation and long working hours on physical functioning and total HRQoL in later life.
The study looked primarily at the association between working hours and sleep length.
Researchers studied the HRQoL of 1,527 businesspeople born between 1919-1934. They obtained data in 1974 and then again 26 years later.
The results of the study were published in Age and Ageing, the professional magazine of The British Geriatrics Society.
The study employed the RAND-36 score to examine the HRQoL of white businessmen who worked more than 50 hours per week and slept fewer than 47 hours per week in midlife.
The RAND score is a basic, universal survey tool composed of 36 items that medical care practitioners and academics use to evaluate treatment outcomes in adult patients. It relies on the respondents’ self-reporting.
The research investigated working hours, sleep length, and self-reported health concerns.
Considering typical work hours as 50 hours a week and normal sleep hours as 47 hours a week, researchers integrated work and sleep habits to come up with four categories: regular work and normal sleep, long work and normal sleep, normal work and short sleep, and long work and short sleep.
In older age, individuals scored worse on the RAND scale for physical functioning, vitality, and general health, compared with those who had typical work and sleep routines.
Businessmen with extended work hours but typical sleep patterns nonetheless received poorer ratings for physical functioning in elder age. Even taking into consideration midlife smoking, and other associated health concerns, the unfavorable effect on physical functioning remained considerable.
Read Also: Risks To Poor Work Life Balance
Findings Likely To Apply To Larger Populations
The study was inspired by the fact that modern-day businesspeople are under a specific amount of strain, with over 6 million people in Britain alone presently working more than 45 hours a week. However, the conclusions of the study are likely to apply to other groups of the population.
A 2014 Gallup research shows that Americans work an average of 47 hours per week, which is almost a full workday more than the conventional 9-5 schedule.
In fact, over 4 in 10 Americans claimed they work at least 50 hours on a weekly basis.
The results of the study reveal that although the impacts of a poor work-life balance may not be recognized immediately, the implications linger into senior age.
Cutting down on work hours and obtaining lots of rest as early in life as feasible might prevent detrimental health impacts in later age.