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Workers who do not take advantage of their vacation days may be missing out on health benefits that come from taking a break, researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) found in a study published earlier this year.
The study, one of the largest to analyze adult movement behavior patterns when on vacation, found that workers were more likely to engage in healthier behaviors during their time off—such as increased sleep and physical activity—and that the behaviors continued when they returned to work.
“When people go on holiday, they’re changing their everyday responsibilities because they’re not locked down to their normal schedule,” study coauthor and UniSA research associate Ty Ferguson said in an April statement.
The study analyzed fitness tracker data from over 300 Australian adults for 13+ months. While on vacation, data from the participants’ devices showed that they slept 21 more minutes and exercised five more minutes per day. Data from the devices also showed that participants had 29 minutes less sedentary time each day compared to their pre-vacation routine, the study found.
The longer the vacation, the longer it took to return to pre-vacation levels of sleep and physical activity after the trip. Participants who went on vacations that were at least a week long saw their amount of sleep remain higher than pre-vacation levels for at least the first week post-vacation, according to the study.
A good night’s rest can help decrease your risk of infection and antibiotic use.
“Getting enough sleep can help improve our mood, cognitive function, and productivity. It can also help lower our risk of developing a range of health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression,” Ferguson said in the April statement.
Some physicians, however, may not be seeing these post-vacation benefits. Almost 10% of doctors reported taking less than one week of vacation per year, according to a 2023 Medscape survey of 9,175 physicians.
Even when they’re on vacation, some doctors can’t catch a break. Over 90% of women physicians reported doing work-related activities on vacation (think replying to emails or attending meetings), with 73.3% reporting that the behavior was harmful to their mental health and work-life integration, according to a 2021 survey of 498 members of the Physician Women in Leadership Facebook group.
“The Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the number and length of family vacations, and it may take some time for long leisure trips to return in force,” according to Medscape.
If doctors can’t take a full week off, a long weekend or a short break can still yield benefits.
After a three-day weekend, for example, data from participants’ devices showed higher amounts of sleep two weeks after a vacation compared to pre-vacation levels, according to the UniSA study.
“As the world adapts to a new normal, perhaps it’s time to embrace the long weekend as a way to boost our physical and mental health,” study coauthor and UniSA senior researcher and professor Carol Maher said in the April statement.