Results of a survey published in October's issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, links insomnia, a common sleep disorder, to a 40% elevated risk of workplace incidents that cost a company $500.00 or more.
The survey, entitled the America Insomnia Survey, was a national phone survey of 10,094 privately-insured health plan members. The participants were selected from a claims database that covers more than 34 million people.
Of the more than 4,000 employed or self-employed survey respondents who provided complete data on physical and mental comorbidities that were analyzed, 20% screened positive for insomnia lasting at least 12 months. A total of 4% analyzed reported workplace accidents or errors that cost the company at least $500.00 over the prior 12 months.
On average, insomnia-linked accidents cost $32,062.00. These costs were significantly higher than the $21,914.00 for workplace accidents not linked to insomnia. The total projected costs of insomnia-related workplace accidents to U.S. businesses is approximately $31 billion a year. It was found that insomniacs were 90% more likely to report accidents at work and 40% likely to have made an error that cost the company significant money.
