Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public

Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11617.html
158 SLEEP DISORDERS AND SLEEP DEPRIVATION
Indirect Costs of Sleep Loss and Sleep Disorders
The indirect costs associated with sleep loss and sleep disorders also
result in billions of dollars of annual expenditures, including costs associated
with illness-related morbidity and mortality, absenteeism, disability,
reduction or loss of productivity, industrial and motor vehicle accidents,
hospitalization, and increased alcohol consumption (Hossain and Shapiro,
2002). As is the case with direct costs, for each of these categories further
analysis is required to determine the complete indirect costs of sleep loss
and sleep disorders. The annual economic impact of sleep problems relating
to workers inability to adjust to late shifts are estimated to be at minimum
over $60 billion (Table 4-1) (Moore-Ede, 1993). In addition, it has been
estimated that sleep-related fatigue costs businesses $150 billion a year in
absenteeism, workplace accidents, and other lost productivity (Sleep Disorders
Create Growing Opportunities for Hospitals, 2001).
A 1994 analysis of automobile accidents estimated the cost of accidents
attributed to sleepiness to be between $29.2 to $37.9 billion (Leger, 1994).
Over 50 percent of automobile crashes involving a truck, where a fatality
occurred, were caused by sleep-related fatigue, costing approximately $2.7
million and 4,800 lives (NTSB, 1990a, 1990b; USDOT, 1991; Mitler et al.,
2000). However, there is no standardized mechanism to record fatigue- and
sleep-related accidents; therefore, these figures are likely underestimates of
the total cost of automobile accidents.
Although the complete economic impact of sleep disorders and sleep
loss is limited, the available data demonstrates the high burden that inadequate
sleep has on the economy. With the average age of the population
rising, incidence of sleep disorders is likely to rise, leading to increased costs
(Phillips, 2005).
TABLE 4-1 Annual Economic Impact of Sleep
Problems Due to Late Shifts
Cost
(billions $)
Reduced manufacturing productivity 50.0
Increased motor vehicle accidents 5.7
Increased industrial accidents 4.0
Increased accidents, injuries, and deaths at work 2.5
Increase in other medical and psychiatric illnesses 2.0
Personnel turnover and retraining 1.0
Total 65.2
SOURCE: Moore-Ede (1993).
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