Report: Problems sleeping linked to higher sick day frequency

Adults who say they sleep between seven and eight hours per night miss fewer work days due to illness than others, according to a Finnish study.

The researchers calculate that if insomnia, apnea and other kinds of sleep disturbances were eliminated, the total cost of worker sick days could be cut by 28 percent.

"Previous studies have already shown associations between insomnia and sickness absence, and there is some evidence regarding the association between sleep duration and sickness absence," said lead author Tea Lallukka, a special researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki.