A longitudinal analysis of the effects of disability on sleep satisfaction and sleep duration in Germany

We study how the onset of disability affects both sleep satisfaction and sleep time on workdays and weekends. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the period 2008-2017, we run fixed-effects models on sleep satisfaction and duration test whether individuals sleep adapts to disability (i.e. their degree of anticipation and adaptation to its onset). We find that people with disabilities report lower sleep satisfaction scores, and shorter sleep time both on workdays (except for males) and weekends compared to people without disabilities. Although we dont find evidence of anticipation effects, we find that sleep outcomes ambiguously worsen with disability. The adaptation to disability in terms of sleep satisfaction is longer for females than males (5 versus 4 years, respectively). These findings suggest that poor sleep among people with disabilities may explain their worst health outcomes, recovery, rehabilitation, and overall quality of life.