Impact of body weight on the relationships between sleep quality in healthcare workers and their somatic health, sexual life, occupational burnout and stress.

Abstract

Objectives: Sleep disorders can significantly affect the performance and well-being of healthcare workers. This study explores the influence of body weight on the links between sleep quality and various self-reported health indicators - including somatic and mental health, sexual life, and workrelated stress - among healthcare workers.

Material and methods: A national cross-sectional survey was conducted in February - April 2022 using a predominantly online, self-administered questionnaire. The group analyzed for this study included 1478 healthcare workers from 99 hospitals and specialized clinics across Poland.

Results: Sleep disturbances, assessed via the 4-item Jenkins Sleep Scale scale, were reported by 16% of the participants. Over half (54.7%) of the respondents were categorized as overweight or obese based on their body mass index (BMI). A higher BMI was found to be associated with being male, age >50 years, working as a paramedic, possessing over ten years of work experience, and reporting poorer health and sexual life (p < 0.001). Sleep quality showed significant correlations with assessments of sexual life, stress levels, and occupational burnout (p < 0.001). These correlations remained significant after adjusting for BMI. Notably, in both univariate and adjusted models, sexual life assessment was a robust predictor of sleep quality across all BMI groups. For non-obese individuals, the impact of sexual life on sleep quality persisted even after adjusting for health indicators.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that body weight may modulate how sleep quality is influenced by sexual life assessments, work-related stress, and somatic and mental health in healthcare workers. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2024;37(5):545-56.