Sleep duration and sleep efficiency in UK long-distance heavy goods vehicle drivers

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) Vol. 79; no. 2; pp. 109 - 115
• Main Authors: Sherry, Aron Peter, Clemes, Stacy A, Chen, Yu-Ling, Edwardson, Charlotte, Gray, Laura J, Guest, Amber, King, James, Rowlands, Alex V, Ruettger, Katharina, Sayyah, Mohsen, Varela-Mato, Veronica, Hartescu, Iuliana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.02.2022; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Accelerometers; accidents; Actigraphy; Adult; Age Factors; Algorithms; Automobile Driving; Body Mass Index; Body size; Body weight; Chronic illnesses; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Demographics; Disease; Driver fatigue; Efficiency; Female; Health care; Humans; Lifestyles; Logistics; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Vehicles; occupational health; preventive medicine; Public health; Sleep; Sleep and wakefulness; Sleep deprivation; Sleep disorders; Smokers; Smoking; Software; Traffic accidents; Traffic accidents & safety; Traffic safety; United Kingdom; Weight control; Work Schedule Tolerance; Workplace; Wrist; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; sleep; accidents; occupational health; public health; preventive medicine
• ISSN: 1351-0711; 1470-7926
• DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2021-107643

ObjectivesTo profile sleep duration and sleep efficiency in UK long-distance heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers and explore demographic, occupational and lifestyle predictors of sleep.MethodsCross-sectional analyses were carried out on 329 HGV drivers (98.5% men) recruited across an international logistics company within the midland’s region, UK. Sleep duration and efficiency were assessed via wrist-worn accelerometry (GENEActiv) over 8 days. Proportions of drivers with short sleep duration (<6 hour/24 hours and <7 hour/24 hours) and inadequate sleep efficiency (<85%) were calculated. Demographic, occupational and lifestyle data were collected via questionnaires and device-based measures. Logistic regression assessed predictors of short sleep duration and inadequate sleep efficiency.Results58% of drivers had a mean sleep duration of <6 hour/24 hours, 91% demonstrated <7-hour sleep/24 hours and 72% achieved <85% sleep efficiency. Sleeping <6 hour/24 hours was less likely in morning (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.94) and afternoon (OR 0.24, CI 0.10 to 0.60) shift workers (vs night) and if never smoked (vs current smokers) (OR 0.45, CI –0.22 to 0.92). The likelihood of sleeping <7 hour/24 hours reduced with age (OR 0.92, CI 0.87 to 0.98). The likelihood of presenting inadequate sleep efficiency reduced with age (OR 0.96, CI 0.93 to 0.99) and overweight body mass index category (vs obese) (OR 0.47, CI 0.27 to 0.82).ConclusionsThe high prevalence of short sleep duration and insufficient sleep quality (efficiency) rate suggest that many HGV drivers have increased risk of excessive daytime sleepiness, road traffic accidents and chronic disease. Future sleep research in UK HGV cohorts is warranted given the road safety and public health implications.