Frequent Awakenings Take Their Toll as Sleep Disruption Affects 90% of UK Study Group Over 50

Sleep disturbances were strikingly common among workers over the age of 50, including those who appeared to get an adequate number of hours of sleep each night, according to a new British study.

Data collected through wrist-worn sensors showed that 90 per cent of participants experienced disrupted sleep and frequent nighttime awakenings, even though most averaged between 6.5 and eight hours of sleep a night.

Led by researchers at the University of Edinburgh and published in Scientific Reports, the year-long study followed 45 workers aged between 50 and 66 across manufacturing, social care, finance and self-employment. Researchers collected more than 5,200 days of wearable-sensor data and over 1,900 self-reported assessments covering wellbeing and workplace experiences.

The findings suggest that the main problem was not always insufficient sleep duration. Instead, interrupted sleep and repeated awakenings appeared to leave many participants feeling tired and poorly rested the following day.

Nearly 70 per cent of participants experienced persistent, clinically significant sleep problems, while almost 92 per cent crossed the threshold for a possible sleep disorder at least once during the study, despite having no known history of sleep disorders.

Workplace strain also emerged as an important factor. Participants who reported a healthier work-life balance and greater job satisfaction generally recorded better wellbeing, while feeling tense, gloomy or irritated at work was linked to poorer outcomes.

Researchers said the findings highlight the need to treat sleep as a workplace health issue and urged employers, healthcare providers and policymakers to pay closer attention to the effect of job-related stress on older employees.

However, the researchers acknowledged that the study involved a relatively small sample. The results should therefore be interpreted cautiously and do not mean that 90 per cent of all British adults over 50 experience sleep disorders.