Sleep-deprived employees are at higher risk of life-threatening chronic illness and disability, more likely to cause workplace accidents, less productive and more absent – adding up to an economic liability in the billions.
The cost to just one medical aid scheme of treating the life-threatening diseases linked to sleeping less than the recommended eight hours a night is estimated at R22 billion annually in a recent study conducted by Charles King, an MBA student at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB).
He set out to determine the expected savings in healthcare costs if 25 to 40-year-olds could be converted to healthy sleeping habits in a world that expects employees to be always-on.
“Lack of sleep is not only related to workplace issues such as absenteeism, lack of productivity, poor work performance, and accidents – which have a direct cost impact on a business – but insufficient sleep has been directly linked with seven of the 15 leading causes of death. The research looked at the indirect costs of lack of sleep, particularly the cost to medical schemes of treating illnesses where inadequate sleep is a major risk factor. We asked what the potential savings would be to a medical scheme if individuals just got enough sleep,” King said.
It is widely accepted that seven to nine hours sleep a night are optimal for wellness, productivity and lowering the risk of disease, but King said 64 per cent of the people whose sleeping habits he tracked slept for less than seven hours a night, with men more likely to be sleep-deprived.
Sleep problems have become one of the leading causes of physical and mental health illnesses, due to expectations of being always available, shift work and longer working hours, 24/7 availability of entertainment and addiction to technology such as mobile phones.
King said that an average of fewer than seven hours sleep increased the risk of developing major depression by 22 per cent, coronary artery disease by 73 per cent, type 2 diabetes by up to 18 per cent, and the risk of developing colorectal cancer by 50 per cent.
Making the sleepless scenario worse, people with habitually poor sleeping patterns also tend to have unhealthy lifestyle habits like drinking alcohol, smoking and lack of exercise – combining these with insufficient sleep further increases the risk of developing chronic diseases.
“Medical schemes carry the burden of these diseases, directly and indirectly. The costs need to be established, to identify the risk for the schemes if members do not adhere to healthy sleeping patterns and other lifestyle choices,” King said.
He said there was a need for more research and analysis of the macro-economic and financial impacts of insufficient sleep on individuals, society and medical insurers, as well as understanding and measuring the impact on people reliant on the public health sector. This would assist in raising awareness of the importance of healthy sleep patterns.
To ensure healthy sleep, he said the use of mobile devices, watching TV or working in bed should be avoided, along with consumption of nicotine, caffeinated drinks or any substance that would impair sleep quality, while regular exercise had significant benefits to improving sleep.
“It is important to educate people on the health benefits of healthy sleep norms, as well as the health risks of not getting enough good quality sleep. Companies need to raise awareness of the benefits of adhering to a healthy sleep norm, like better work performance, less absenteeism, less injuries on duty and lower risk of developing life-threatening disease. Doctors who interact with patients must be aware of and communicate the risks of unhealthy sleep habits,” King advised.
