Background: Restful sleep plays an important role in long-term health and occupational safety. Heart rate variability (HRV) is used as stress indicator. The aim of this study was to determine whether HRV at rest or during sleep, as an objective indicator of stress, reflects subjectively assessed sleep quality. Methods: 84 subjects (37.3 ± 15.6 years) were classified into good sleepers and poor sleepers based on the results of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The cut-off value to distinguish between good and bad sleepers recommended by Buysse et al. 1989 is >5. Mental health status was determined using the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A 24 h electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded for HRV analysis (total and 6 h night phase). Results: The poor sleepers showed a significantly lower mental health status (p = 0.004). The multifactorial variance analysis of the total phase time parameters Min HR (p = 0.032, η2 = 0.056) and SI (p = 0.015, η2 = 0.072) showed significant interaction effects. In the 6h night phase, significant interaction effects were found for SDNN (p = 0.036, η2 = 0.065) and SD2 (p = 0.033, η2 = 0.067). In addition, there was a significant negative correlation between HRV and stress and a positive correlation between HRV and mental health. Conclusions: Although this study did not demonstrate a direct relationship between sleep quality and HRV, it was shown that there are important connections between sleep quality and mental health, and between HRV and mental health.

Purpose: Sufficient sleep quality plays a significant role for long-term physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of general mental health symptoms with sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey with 84 included participants (female: n = 42, male: n = 42) was conducted. General mental health symptoms were assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and daytime sleepiness was evaluated with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Statistical differences were calculated using two-sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. For correlation analyses Spearman's rank correlation was used. Results: Subjects with poor sleep quality reached higher scores in the GHQ-12 and in the ESS than subjects with good sleep quality, but the difference regarding the ESS was not significant. Higher GHQ-12 scores were associated with higher PSQI scores but not with higher ESS scores. Conclusions: Major findings show strong evidence of an association between general mental health symptoms and sleep quality with poor sleepers having a more disturbed mental health than good sleepers. Further evidence of the interrelationship between subjective sleep quality and general mental health symptoms was found.

Zusammenfassung Einleitung Psychische Belastungen am Arbeitsplatz bergen ein hohes Gefährdungspotenzial für Gesundheit und Lebensqualität. Das Ziel dieser Studie war, die Zusammenhänge zwischen Beanspruchungsfolgen psychischer Belastung und subjektiver Schlafqualität sowie individueller Tagesschläfrigkeit zu untersuchen. Methoden Es wurde eine Querschnittsuntersuchung an 84 einbezogenen Probanden durchgeführt. Arbeitsbezogene Beanspruchungsfolgen wurden mit den 3 Skalen Kognitive Irritation (KI), Emotionale Irritation (EI) und Gesamtindex (GI) der Irritations-Skala zur Erfassung arbeitsbezogener Beanspruchungsfolgen (IS), Schlafqualität mit dem Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) und Tagesschläfrigkeit mit der Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) evaluiert. Ergebnisse Hinsichtlich der erfassten soziodemografischen und medizinischen Daten unterschieden sich die Probanden mit guter nicht von den Probanden mit schlechter Schlafqualität. In allen 3 Skalen der IS und in der ESS erreichten die schlechten Schläfer ungünstig höhere Werte als die guten Schläfer, wobei der Unterschied in Bezug auf die ESS nicht signifikant war. Höhere Punktzahlen in allen 3 Skalen der IS korrelierten mit höheren Werten im PSQI, jedoch lediglich höhere Punktzahlen in der EI aus der IS auch mit höheren Punktzahlen in der ESS. Diskussion Arbeitsbezogene Beanspruchungsfolgen und subjektive Schlafqualität stehen in einer Wechselbeziehung, der in der heutigen Arbeitswelt eine wichtige Bedeutung zukommt. Wichtige Gesichtspunkte sind hierbei berufliche Unsicherheit und ständige Erreichbarkeit.

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