Journal Article

0284 Sleep Health in Latino Day Laborers: Occupational Health and Wellbeing

Ramos, Alberto, Ramirez, Jahanett, Ebner, Nina

2023

Overview

Introduction Little is known about the sleep health of Latin(x) day laborers. Existing research demonstrates that they experience precarious employment, low wages, and hazardous working conditions. Recent studies also show that periods of unemployment and psychosocial stressors, such as financial insecurity, have been associated with worsened mental health outcomes and poor sleep health. Our investigation brings these insights together in order to understand how sleep health impacts well-being in the workplace and how precarious work, such as day labor, impacts sleep, contributing to health disparities. Methods This was a mixed-methods study in which twenty participants were recruited using purposive sampling from a worker center run by the Austin Public Health Department and an informal hiring site. Participants were male, over 18 years of age, of Latin(x) ethnicity, who reported problems with sleep. All completed a semi-structured interview with validated sleep questionnaires. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded. Results Most workers were between 30 - 44 years of age, of Mexican ethnicity, and worked in construction. Workers reported poor sleep quality with an average of 5.6 hours of sleep at night. Eighty-five percent (n=17) had problems with either clinically significant insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index ≥ 15), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale ≥ 10), or both. In addition, 50% reported either moderate or severe anxiety or depression. Most agreed (80%) that poor sleep affected their quality of life. Regarding work performance, 50% found themselves not concentrating enough on their work two or more times a week. Common themes included: (1) lack of routine and unpredictability of work schedule (2) poor sleep habits and coping mechanisms (3) negative impact of fatigue on work routine and relationships (4) belief that sleep would improve unaided and (5) willingness to seek behavioral health interventions for sleep concerns. Conclusion Our results indicate that study participants experience short sleep duration and insomnia in conjunction with high levels of anxiety and/or depression. Participants linked these with unpredictable work schedules, stress, and financial difficulties. However, many were interested in receiving a clinical behavioral intervention to improve their sleep. Support (if any) This work was supported in part by BSM PRIDE Institute SRP funding from NHLBI (R25HL105444).

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Subject: Ethnicity / Insomnia / Manual workers / Mental health / Sleep