Better sleep hygiene is associated with better sleep health in mining shift workers in Australia

Australia's mine sites are largely situated in remote locations and operate around the clock. Many shift workers fly to site, where they work 12-hr shifts and sleep in camp accommodation before they return home for the period rostered off work. Mining shift workers experience poor sleep, yet limited research is available on contributing factors. This study investigated, for the first time, the relationship between the sleep health and sleep hygiene in this population. A survey was disseminated to shift workers in the mining industry, utilising a cross-sectional study design. The Sleep Health Index and Sleep Hygiene Index questionnaires were used to evaluate their sleep health and sleep hygiene, respectively. In total, 470 shift workers (mean age [years]: 39 +/- 12, mean body mass index [kg m(-2)]: 28 +/- 5) were included, which involved 132 females. Average scores for the Sleep Health Index and Sleep Hygiene Index were 76 +/- 15 and 30 +/- 7, respectively. Better sleep health was observed in shift workers with better sleep hygiene (beta = -0.52, SE = 0.09 [-0.71, -0.34], p < 0.001). Differences in Sleep Health Index scores were found for individual Sleep Hygiene Index items related to "sleep regularity", "sleep environment", "mental health" and "time in bed extension". However, no differences in Sleep Health Index scores were found for items related to "caffeine, alcohol or nicotine consumption" or "exercise" close to bedtime and "bedtime activities" (p > 0.05 for all). These findings demonstrate a relationship between sleep hygiene and sleep health; therefore, it may be possible to improve the sleep of shift workers by improving their sleep hygiene.