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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research

Date Submitted: Mar 19, 2025
Date Accepted: Jun 27, 2025

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Interaction of Long Working Hours and Sense of Coherence on Objective Total Sleep Time: Cross-Sectional Study From the SLEPT Study

Muroi K, Morita E, Matsumoto S, Ishihara A, Hasegawa S, Ishitsuka M, Hori D, Doki S, Takahashi T, Sasahara Si, Kanbayashi T, Yanagisawa M, Satoh M, Matsuzaki I

Interaction of Long Working Hours and Sense of Coherence on Objective Total Sleep Time: Cross-Sectional Study From the SLEPT Study

JMIR Form Res 2025;9:e73784

DOI: 10.2196/73784

PMID: 40902070

PMCID: 12407221

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.

Interaction of long working hours and sense of coherence on objective total sleep time: SLeep Epidemiology Project at University of Tsukuba

  • Kei Muroi; 
  • Emi Morita; 
  • Sumire Matsumoto; 
  • Asuka Ishihara; 
  • Sumi Hasegawa; 
  • Mami Ishitsuka; 
  • Daisuke Hori; 
  • Shorato Doki; 
  • Tsukasa Takahashi; 
  • Shin-ichiro Sasahara; 
  • Takashi Kanbayashi; 
  • Masashi Yanagisawa; 
  • Makoto Satoh; 
  • Ichiyo Matsuzaki

ABSTRACT

Background:

Long working hours are a risk factor for short sleep duration among workers, suggesting that high stress under long working hours is associated with sleep. Sense of coherence (SOC) is a dispositional orientation that allows individuals to be more resilient to stressors in daily life. High SOC can maintain sleep under long working hours.

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate the interaction between SOC and long working hours on total sleep time among Japanese workers. We hypothesized that individuals with higher SOC would be less susceptible to sleep reduction associated with long working hours compared to those with lower SOC.

Methods:

A questionnaire and an actigraphy-based cross-sectional survey were conducted among workers in Ibaraki and Tokyo prefectures in Japan. The 13-item SOC scale was used to obtain responses, and weekly working hours were recorded. Total sleep time (TST) per day was measured with an actigraphy device worn for 1 week. Long working hours were defined as more than 50 hours per week; multiple regression analysis with TST as the dependent variable was performed to examine the interaction between long working hours and SOC. A simple slope analysis was performed for further analysis of the interaction.

Results:

A total of 785 workers from 540 surveyed workers were included in the analysis. Multiple regression analysis showed a decrease in TST for long working hours alone, whilst an interaction between long working hours and SOC was associated with an increase in TST. Single slope analysis showed that lower SOC was associated with a greater decrease in TST.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest the need for interventions designed to promote SOC in protecting the sleep of workers during long working hours.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Muroi K, Morita E, Matsumoto S, Ishihara A, Hasegawa S, Ishitsuka M, Hori D, Doki S, Takahashi T, Sasahara Si, Kanbayashi T, Yanagisawa M, Satoh M, Matsuzaki I

Interaction of Long Working Hours and Sense of Coherence on Objective Total Sleep Time: Cross-Sectional Study From the SLEPT Study

JMIR Form Res 2025;9:e73784

DOI: 10.2196/73784

PMID: 40902070

PMCID: 12407221

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