Gender differences in actual and preferred nocturnal sleep duration among Finnish employed population.
OBJECTIVE
Sufficient sleep is essential for health and working capacity. Shorter sleep duration on workdays is often compensated by sleeping longer during leisure days. Gender dissimilarities in sleep quality are acknowledged. Our aim was to study the less known gender differences in sleep duration.


METHODS
A population based study with a total of 1049 middle-aged regularly working women (n=524) and men (n=525). A questionnaire of sleep durations on workdays and leisure days, preferred sleep duration, with health-related quality of life and health behavior.


RESULTS
Women slept 14min longer on workdays (p<0.002) and 27min longer on leisure days (p<0.002) and had 32min longer preferred sleep duration (p<0.001) than men. Compared to workdays, women slept 1h 57minutes longer and men 1h 42min longer on leisure days (gender p<0.001). On workdays, both women and men slept less than their preferred sleep duration and again, with more extensive difference in women (gender-interaction p<0.001). On leisure days the excessive sleep time did not differ between genders (p=0.346). None of the explanatory variables explained the gender differences in sleep durations.


CONCLUSIONS
Sleep loss on workdays is presumably more pronounced in women, since despite their longer sleep on workdays, the gender differences persist in both sleep duration on leisure days and in preferred sleep duration.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland; Sleep Research Unit, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. Electronic address: paivi.polo@tyks.fi.
Päivi
P
Polo-Kantola
Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Antti
A
Laine
Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Turku, Finland.
Erkki
E
Kronholm
Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Child Neurology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
Maiju M
MM
Saarinen
Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Turku University Hospital, Clinical Research Centre, Turku, Finland.
Päivi
P
Rautava
Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Child and Adolescent Health Care Unit, Turku City Hospital, Turku, Finland.
Minna
M
Aromaa
Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Child Neurology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
Matti
M
Sillanpää
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
Gender; Health-related quality of life; Man; Preferred sleep duration; Sleep; Sleep duration; Sleep loss; Woman