Sleep disturbances improve after retirement

[Posted: Mon 02/11/2009 by Olivia Fens]

Retirement is followed by a sharp decrease in the prevalence of sleep disturbances, a new study has found.

According to researchers from the University of Turku in Finland, removing work-related demands and stress results in a general improvement in sleep.

The study of more than 14,000 people found that the chance of having disturbed sleep in the seven years after retirement was 26% lower than in the seven years before retiring.

Sleep disturbance prevalence rates fell from 24.2% in the last year before retirement to 17.8 percent in the first year after retiring.

The greatest reduction in sleep disturbances was reported by participants with depression or mental fatigue prior to retirement.

The post-retirement improvement in sleep was also more pronounced in men, management-level workers, employees who reported high psychological job demands, and people who occasionally or consistently worked night shifts.

“In countries and positions where there is no proper pension level to guarantee financial security beyond working age, however, retirement may be followed by severe stress disturbing sleep even more than before retirement,” the researchers added.

The study was published in the journal Sleep.