Background Sleep problems interfere with work performance. Decreased work productivity due to health problems is defined as presenteeism. Although empirical data on the improvement of presenteeism by sleep interventions have been published, a systematic review elucidating whether there is a difference in the improvement of presenteeism across various types of sleep interventions has not yet been published. This systematic review of studies aimed to clarify which sleep interventions are more likely to be effective in improving presenteeism. Methods The electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE were used to perform a literature search (the start and end search dates were October 20, 2019, and March 11, 2020, respectively). A combination of terms such as “employee*,” “sleep,” “insomnia,” and “presenteeism” was used for the search. Both randomized and non-randomized control trials were included in this systematic review. Results Six types of sleep interventions were identified, including cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), sleep hygiene education, yoga, mindfulness, weight loss program, and changing the color temperature of fluorescent lights in the workplace. Only CBT-I improved both sleep problems and presenteeism compared with a control group. The results of this review also show that there is heterogeneity in the measurement of presenteeism. Conclusions The results of this systematic review suggested that CBT-I could be adapted for workers with sleep problems and presenteeism. We discussed whether CBT-I improved both sleep problems and presenteeism compared with other interventions. In addition, methods for measuring presenteeism in future research are proposed.

Background Presenteeism is an indicator of productivity loss and the risk of absence from work due to mental health problems. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of sleep debt, social jetlag, and insomnia symptoms on presenteeism and psychological distress. Methods The participants were 351 Japanese workers (271 males, 79 females, and one of other gender, with a mean age of 49 ± 9.49 years). The eligibility criteria for this study were full-time employment, working eight hours per day, five days per week, and no night shifts. The participants answered questionnaires measuring sleep debt, social jetlag, insomnia symptoms, presenteeism, and psychological distress. Results Insomnia symptoms had the greatest impact on presenteeism and psychological distress when compared with sleep debt and social jetlag (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 5.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.88–10.91; adjusted OR = 7.29, 95%CI = 3.06–17.35). Sleep debt had a greater impact on presenteeism and psychological distress than did social jetlag (adjusted OR = 1.61, 95%CI = 1.14–2.27; adjusted OR = 1.68, 95%CI = 1.11–2.54), which had no impact on these variables (adjusted OR = 1.04, 95%CI = 0.91–1.20; adjusted OR = 0.96, 95%CI = 0.76–1.22). Conclusions The findings of this study indicated that insomnia symptoms had a more significant impact on presenteeism and psychological distress than social jetlag and sleep debt. Although sleep debt might have an independent impact on presenteeism and psychological distress, social jetlag did not.

Presenteeism is the loss of productivity due to a worker's health problems, despite the worker being present at the workplace. Although the association between presenteeism and insomnia complaints is well known, few studies have examined the association between insomnia severity and presenteeism. This study aimed to explore the association between insomnia severity and presenteeism. This study included 1925 participants (1543 males, 379 females, and three of other genders) in total. The mean age of the participants was 49.94 ± 9.82 years. The inclusion criteria were full-time employment, working 8 hr per day and 5 days per week, and having no night shifts. The insomnia severity was classified based on the Insomnia Severity Index and Athens Insomnia Scale criteria. Logistic regression analysis showed that moderate and severe insomnia severity were associated to a greater magnitude with presenteeism than mild insomnia severity. Severe insomnia severity was associated to a greater magnitude with presenteeism than moderate insomnia severity. In summary, logistic regression analysis showed that increased insomnia severity based on Insomnia Severity Index classification was associated with increased odds of presenteeism, but increased insomnia severity based on Athens Insomnia Scale classification was not fully consistent with increased odds of presenteeism. Because increased insomnia severity is associated with worsening of presenteeism, early detection of and early intervention against insomnia complaints are important for reducing presenteeism. This study was the first to examine the associations between presenteeism and insomnia severity classification of no insomnia, mild, moderate, and severe insomnia severity.