Work programs can improve employees' children's sleep

A program aimed to reduce work-family conflicts for employees had a positive influence on the employees' children's sleep.

A workplace intervention designed to reduce employees' work-family conflict and increase schedule flexibility also has a positive influence on the sleep patterns of the employees' children.

The intervention, Support-Transform-Achieve-Results (STAR), includes training supervisors to be more supportive of their employees' personal and family lives, changing the structure of work so that employees have more control over their work time, and changing the culture in the workplace so that colleagues are more supportive of each other's efforts to integrate their work and personal lives.

The research team conducted several other tests of the effects of the intervention. In an earlier study, for example, they showed that STAR resulted in employed parents spending more time with their children without reducing their work time.

In this study, the researchers found that children whose parents participated in the STAR intervention showed an improved quality of sleep one year later compared to the children of employees who were randomly assigned to a control group. The researchers published their findings in the June issue of theJournal of Adolescent Health.

"These findings show the powerful effect that parents' workplace experiences can have on their children," said Susan McHale, distinguished professor of human development and family studies, Penn State. "The STAR intervention focused solely on workplace experiences, not on parenting practices. We can speculate that the STAR intervention helped parents to be more physically and emotionally available when their children needed them to be."

The youth in the study were ages 9 through 17, which is a crucial age group for developing healthy sleep habits, as youth become more independent and more involved in friends, school and social activities, McHale said.

McHale and her team measured sleep patterns by interviewing employees' children on the phone every evening for eight consecutive evenings both before and after the STAR intervention. Each night they asked the children about their sleep on the prior night, including what time they went to bed, what time they woke up that morning, how well they slept and how hard it was to fall asleep.

An important part of this method was collecting the data on consecutive nights.

"Precision of reports is enhanced by getting the data on a daily basis," McHale said.

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Study shows many fire fighters have sleep disorders

A recent study reveals that many fire fighters suffer from sleep disorders.

Sleep disorders are independent risk factors for heart attacks and motor vehicle crashes, which are the two leading causes of death for firefighters in the United States. In a national sample of almost 7,000 firefighters, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) examined the prevalence of common sleep disorders and their association with adverse health and safety outcomes and found that sleep disorders are highly prevalent, and associated with substantially increased risk of motor vehicle crashes and cardio-metabolic diseases among firefighters.

Findings of the study, led by Laura K. Barger, PhD, associate physiologist in BWH's Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, are published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine on November 13, 2014.

"Our findings demonstrate the impact of common sleep disorders on firefighter health and safety, and their connection to the two leading causes of death among firefighters," said Barger. "Unfortunately, more than 80 percent of firefighters who screened positive for a common sleep disorder were undiagnosed and untreated."

Based on specific criteria, 66 US fire departments were selected to participate in a workplace based sleep disorders screening and educational program. Approximately 7,000 firefighter participants were assessed for common sleep disorders. Firefighters were also surveyed about health and safety, and documentation collected for reportedmotor vehicle crashes.

Participants reported current health status, previous diagnoses of sleep and other medical disorders, the likelihood of falling asleep while driving, motor vehicle crashes, near crashes, and injuries.

Researchers found that a total of 37.2 percent of firefighters screened positive for sleep disorders including obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, shift work disorder and restless leg syndrome. Firefighters with a sleep disorder were more likely to report a motor vehicle crash and were more likely to report falling asleep while driving than those who did not screen positive. Additionally, firefighters with sleep disorders were more likely to report having cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and anxiety, and to report poorer health status, compared with those who did not screen positive.

"Occupational sleep disorder screening programs can identify individuals who are vulnerable to adverse safety and health consequences, including those that are leading causes of death in firefighters," stated Charles Czeisler, PhD, MD, FRCP, chief, BWH Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. "This study provides the rationale for further research evaluating the effectiveness of occupational sleep disorders management programs on disease risk, mental health and safety outcomes."

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Study: Enough sleep means less sick days

A study shows that getting enough sleep can mean less sick days from school or work.

New research suggests that sleeping 7 to 8 hours per night is associated with the lowest risk of absence from work due to sickness. The results underscore the importance of the "Sleep Well, Be Well" campaign of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project, a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sleep Research Society and other partners.

Results show that the risk of an extended absence from work due to sickness rose sharply among those who reported sleeping less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours per night. Further analysis found that the optimal sleep duration with the lowest risk of sickness absence from work was between 7 and 8 hours per night: 7 hours, 38 minutes for women and 7 hours, 46 minutes for men. Insomnia-related symptoms, early morning awakenings, feeling more tired than others, and using sleeping pills also were consistently associated with a significant increase in workdays lost due to sickness.

"Optimal sleep duration should be promoted, as very long and very short sleep indicate health problems and subsequent sickness absence," said principal investigator Tea Lallukka, PhD, specialized researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. "Those sleeping five hours or less, or 10 hours or more, were absent from work every year for 4.6 to 8.9 days more, as compared to those with the optimal sleep length."

The study results are published in the September issue of the journal Sleep.

"Insufficient sleep -- due to inadequate or mistimed sleep -- contributes to the risk for several of today's public health epidemics, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. Getting at least seven hours of nightly sleep is a key to overall health, which translates to less sick time away from work," said American Academy of Sleep Medicine President Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, a national spokesperson for the Healthy Sleep Project. The "Sleep Well, Be Well" campaign was launched earlier this year to increase awareness of the importance of sleep as one of the three pillars of a healthy lifestyle.

The study involved a nationally representative survey of 3,760 men and women in Finland who had been working at any time in the prior year. Participants were 30-64 years old at baseline. Sleep characteristics were determined by questionnaire, and health measures were derived from physical examination conducted by field physicians. Data for work absences due to sickness were gathered from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, which tracks all sickness absences lasting more than 10 days. The average follow-up period was seven years.

A novel statistical method developed by study co-authors Tommi Härkänen, PhD, and Risto Kaikkonen, MSc, was used to predict adjusted average sickness absence days per working year. Additional statistical estimates found that the direct costs of sickness absence to the Finnish government and employers could decrease by up to 28 percent if sleep disturbances could be fully addressed.

"Insomnia symptoms should be detected early to help prevent sickness absence and deterioration in health, well-being and functioning," said Lallukka. "Successful prevention of insomnia not only promotes health and work ability among employees, but it can also lead to notable savings in reduced sickness absence costs."

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New mothers sleepy for many months

A study from Australia shows that new mothers are still very sleepy four months after giving birth and should be cautious about returning to work too quickly.

New mothers are being urged to be cautious about returning to work too quickly, after a study found one in two were still excessively sleepy four months after giving birth.

Dr Ashleigh Filtness, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety -- Queensland (CARRS-Q), studied the sleep patterns and tiredness of postpartum mums and found despite new mums recording stable night sleep times at 18 weeks, they continued to report being excessively tired.

The CARRS-Q study, published in PLoS One, followed 33 healthy new mums who recorded their postpartum sleep patterns in 15 minute increments during weeks 6, 12 and 18.

"Sleep disruption strongly influences daytime function, with sleepiness recognized as a risk-factor for people performing critical and dangerous tasks," she said.

Dr Filtness said the study had significant implications for decisions-makers about when women should return to work, with current government paid parental leave entitlements ceasing at 18 weeks.

"This brings into question whether four months parental leave is sufficient to ensure daytime sleepiness has diminished to a manageable level before returning to work," she said.

"It is important when developing regulations for parental leave entitlements that policy makers take into account the high prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness experienced by new mothers.

"With the birth of every baby the new mother must adjust to the demands of parenting and one aspect of that is to remain functional while experiencing potentially severe sleep disruption.

"To put this into context, the assessment tool used to determine new mums' sleepiness is also used by GPs to determine clinically relevant levels of sleepiness.

"If any other otherwise healthy person presented to a doctor with this degree of sleepiness they would likely have been offered advice regarding implications for daytime impairment including the impact on sustaining attention and decision making."

Dr Filtness said the study also found while new mums were still waking on average twice a night to attend to their babies at 6, 12 and 18 weeks -- their total sleep time was about 7 hours and 20 minutes.

She said Australian new mothers actually slept more than the average American worker (6h 53mins).

"So while postpartum women experienced disturbed sleep, they didn't necessarily experience total reduced sleep time," she said.

"What we found was that inevitably, new mothers will wake in the night to attend to their infant and the number of times they wake remains consistent during the first 18 postpartum weeks.

"Sleep disruption reduced over time and it appears this was driven by a reduction in the time it took for new mums to return to sleep, suggesting improved efficiency by mothers at settling their infant or the development of the infant's circadian rhythm.

"These findings highlight the importance of sleep quality as opposed to sleep quantity, especially during the first 12 weeks."

"Soon-to-be mums should be aware of the importance of their own sleep and consider how they are going to preserve their own sleep during the first few months of caring for a baby," she said.

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Autism symptoms in adults eased by challenges at work

Challenges in the workplace can ease autism symptoms in adults.

For adults with autism, having the chance to work somewhat independently may lead to a reduction in symptoms of the disorder, a new study suggests.

The research puts new emphasis on the potential for adults with autism to develop and improve over their lifetimes, said study author Julie Lounds Taylor, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville.

"We have assumed it's really hard to budge autism symptoms in adulthood. Drugs are targeted to problems like acting out, for example," she said. "But this study suggests that these adults need a place where they're intellectually stimulated, and then we'll see a reduction in symptoms."

The challenge is to find the right fit between a person's abilities and interests and a specific job, she explained.

"How independent can they be and what are the risks of failure? We have to be careful. You're talking about a huge range of people with autism," Taylor said. "I've seen people who can manage pretty high-level jobs, like computer programming or being in the military, while others have more [mental] challenges, but can still work a job in the community with support."

Autism spectrum disorders are a class of neurodevelopmental disorders defined by difficulties with social functioning and communication, according to the researchers. Symptoms include restricted interests, repetitive behaviors and difficulty with social interactions.

The study findings were reported online recently in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Increasing the level of independence in adults with autism isn't necessarily difficult to do, Taylor said. "We found behavior changes any time you could bump [them] up to doing something a little more independent," she said. "As they get more independent, you see more benefit."

Yet understanding what makes a good fit is a huge challenge, she said. "Insight is one of the characteristics people with autism typically may not have, so we will probably need the person's perspective and then gather information from families, looking at what's available, and incorporating all of that together," Taylor explained.

About 50 percent of adults with autism spend their time in sheltered settings, and a minority work in the community, according to Taylor. Most have trouble holding steady jobs, she added.

For the study, the researchers tracked the behavioral development and activities of 153 people with autism spectrum disorder over a five-year period. Their average age was about 30.

The data came from a larger study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which followed 400 families with adolescents with autism over 10 years. Data were collected at two different points in time almost six years apart. Data came from the primary caregiver -- 150 were mothers and three were fathers.

The researchers found that having greater vocational independence and engagement was related to reduction in autism symptoms and maladaptive behaviors. It was also associated with improvements in daily life activities.

An expert in autism spectrum disorders who was not involved in the study said the results were not surprising.

"This study suggests that, as with nondisabled individuals, a more positive work experience can have many important associated benefits downstream," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, in New Hyde Park.

If the research can be replicated, Adesman said it suggests greater emphasis needs to be given to helping adults with autism spectrum disorder find as independent and engaging a work environment as possible.

Taylor said the key point for parents of adults with autism spectrum disorder is to understand the value of getting the best possible vocational placement for their son or daughter and advocating for it.

"If it's a terrible fit, in ability or in what interests them, it won't work out," she said. "But a job can have lasting behavioral impact across the lifespan."

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Autism symptoms improved by employment

A study shows that employment may improve symptoms for those with autism.

More independent work environments may lead to reductions in autism symptoms and improve daily living in adults with the disorder, according to a new study released in theJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined 153 adults with autism and found that greater vocational independence and engagement led to improvements in core features of autism, other problem behaviors and ability to take care of oneself.

"We found that if you put the person with autism in a more independent vocational placement, this led to measurable improvements in their behaviors and daily living skills overall," said lead author Julie Lounds Taylor, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and Special Education and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigator. "One core value in the disability community and at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is placing people with disabilities in the most inclusive environments possible. In addition, this study gives us evidence that increasing the level of independence in an employment or vocational setting can lead to improvements in autism symptoms and other associated behaviors."

Participants averaged 30 years of age and were part of a larger longitudinal study on adolescents and adults with autism. Data were collected at two time points separated by 5.5 years.

Taylor, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, looked at such autism symptoms as restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, communication impairments and difficulties with social interactions and found the degree of independence in vocational activities was uniquely related to subsequent changes in autism symptoms, other problem behaviors and activities of daily living.

The results provide preliminary evidence that employment may be therapeutic in the development of adults with autism. Similar to typically developing adults, vocational activities may serve as a mechanism for providing cognitive and social stimulations and enhance well-being and quality of life.

"The majority of research on autism has focused on early childhood, but autism is a lifelong disorder with impairments that limit quality of life throughout adulthood," Taylor said. "Given the prevalence of autism, now one in 88 children, we must continue to examine the factors that promote well-being and quality of life for adults with autism and other disabilities as a whole."

Underemployment is a common phenomenon among adults with autism, the authors noted, with around 50 percent of adults with autism primarily spending their days with little community contact and in segregated work or activity settings.

Taylor says this research highlights the importance of employment programs for adults with autism and stresses the need for more intervention programming for this population.

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Daylight increases sleep quality

Exposure to daylight in the workplace leads to increased sleep quality and duration.

Think of your ideal workspace. Do you prefer fluorescent lights flickering overhead, or daylight streaming in through wide windows?

If you need help deciding, consider new findings that suggest a strong link between windows in the workplace and workers' sleep, vitality, and quality of life.

In preliminary research presented this week at the SLEEP 2013 conference in Baltimore, a team led by doctoral candidate Ivy Cheung of Northwestern University found that those who had windows in the workplace slept an average of 47 more minutes per night compared to workers in offices without daylight exposure.

They also had 173 percent more white light exposure during the workday, were more physically active, and reported better sleep quality and efficiency.

"The extent to which daylight exposure impacts office workers is remarkable," said Cheung.

Cheung's study included 49 day-shift office workers, 27 of whom worked in a windowless workplace and 22 of whom worked with windows.

The participants answered the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), self-report questionnaires that assess their general quality of life and sleep quality, respectively.

In a subset of 21 participants, including 10 windowless workers and 11 workers with windows, researchers measured light exposure, activity, and sleep-wake patterns with actigraphy, a monitoring technique in which wrist monitors record motor activity and other sleep-related factors like light and temperature.

The workers without windows in the workplace had worse quality of life measures related to vitality and physical problems, and poorer scores on measures of overall sleep quality, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction on the PSQI. No significant actigraphy results were reported.

The researchers suggest that architects and employers should take natural daylight exposure and light levels into account when considering the structural forces that motivate office workers and encourage overall health.

"Enhanced indoor lighting for those with insufficient daylight in current offices as well as increased emphasis on sufficient daylight exposure in the architectural design of future office environments may improve office workers' physical and mental well-being," they conclude.

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Study: Treating Sleep Apnea Pays Off At Work

This study discusses the benefits in work that can be seen from treating sleep apnea.

Treating sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder, boosts people's productivity at work, according to a new study.

Sleep apnea interrupts breathing during sleep, causing people with the condition to wake up throughout the night. Previous research has shown that people with sleep apnea are less productive at work, usually because of excessive daytime sleepiness.

The new study looked at whether using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during sleep improved the participants' productivity. With CPAP, a patient wears a mask connected to a machine that sends pressurized air into the throat to keep the airway open throughout the night.

The study included 45 people, aged 40 to 56, with sleep apnea who completed questionnaires before and after three months of CPAP treatment.

The 35 patients who closely followed the treatment program had significant improvements in their daytime sleepiness levels and in their work productivity, but this was not the case for the 10 patients who did not follow the treatment program, the investigators found.

The study was scheduled for presentation Thursday at a meeting of the European Respiratory Society and the European Sleep Research Society in Berlin, Germany.

"Continuous positive airway pressure is the gold standard treatment for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea," study lead author Dr. Evangelia Nena said in a European Lung Foundation news release. "Previous research has shown the potential benefits of CPAP to patients' health and quality of life, and our findings add to this body of evidence, demonstrating the advantages the treatment can have on productivity at work."

Data and conclusions of research presented at meetings typically are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

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Research claims those with epilepsy are treated unfairly at work

Research from Australia shows that those with epilepsy are treated unfairly in the workplace which worsens their condition.

According to a new research conducted by Epilepsy Australia, epilepsy sufferers are reported to be treated unfairly at workplace which is leading their condition to worsen even more.

A member of The Epilepsy Centre SA & NT, Dr. Michelle Bellon, said that discrimination with these people at work leads to increased stress on their minds, which ultimately leads to exacerbation of their condition. He asserted that the research results emphasize the risk caused by epilepsy to their physical and mental health.

In a statement, he said discrimination with epilepsy patients can let them fall prey to other health problems likedepression and anxiety. Among the reports of unfair treatments, 47% cases were of discrimination and 11% of assault, bullying and teasing at work, school and community.

A new research revealing the clear picture of discrimination encountered by the patients will be released on Tuesday by high profile doctors in Australia.

"Most concerning is that despite laws, level of unfair treatment within the workplace reported by our surveyrespondents indicates additional mechanisms are required to uphold a code of acceptable conduct", added Dr. Bellon.

Epilepsy is a severe brain disorder in which person undergoes frequent seizures and episodes of repeated mood swings and behavior.

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