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

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.