Socioeconomic status, occupational characteristics, and sleep duration in African/Caribbean immigrants and US White health care workers

Abstract

Study objectives: o advance our understanding of the interplay of socioeconomic factors, occupational exposures, and race/ethnicity as they relate to sleep duration. We hypothesize that non Hispanic African/Caribbean immigrant employees in long term health care have shorter sleep duration than non Hispanic white employees, and that low education, low income, and occupational exposures including night work and job strain account for some of the African/Caribbean immigrant-white difference in sleep duration.

Design: Cross sectional

Setting: Four extended care facilities in Massachusetts, United States

Participants: 340 employees in extended care facilities

Measurements and results: Sleep duration was assessed with wrist actigraphy for a mean of 6.3 days. In multivariable regression modeling controlling for gender and age, African/Caribbean immigrants slept 64.4 fewer minutes (95% CI: -81.0, -47.9) per night than white participants; additional control for education and income reduced the racial gap to 50.9 minutes (-69.2, -32.5); additional control for the occupational factors of hours worked per week and working the night shift reduced the racial gap to 37.7 minutes (-57.8, -17.6).

Conclusions: his study provides support for the hypothesis that socioeconomic and occupational characteristics explain some of the African/ Caribbean immigrant-white difference in sleep duration in the United States, especially among health care workers.

Keywords: Racial and ethnic disparities; actigraphy; health; occupation; sleep duration; work family.

Figures

Figure 1

Hours worked per week according to racial/ethnic group. he reported total hours per week at all jobs are depicted for each racial and ethnic group as a proportion of the total participants within that racial and ethnic group. Non Hispanic white participants (dashed line), non-Hispanic African/Caribbean immigrant participants (solid line), Hispanic participants (dotted line). For the purpose of illustration, hours worked per week are depicted in centered, half hour bins.

Figure 2

Daily sleep duration according to racial/ethnic group. he daily sleep duration assessed by wrist actigraphy is depicted for each racial and ethnic group as a proportion of the total participants within that racial and ethnic group. Non Hispanic white participants (dashed line), non Hispanic African/Caribbean immigrant (solid line), Hispanic participants (dotted line). For the purpose of illustration, hours of sleep/ day are depicted in centered, half hour bins.