Researchers found that the transition from British Summer Time (BST) back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), when 60 minutes are gained overnight, triggers an increase in sleep disorders among over 45s.
Problems included difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep, according to the findings published by the journal Neurology.
But there was no such association when an hour is lost when the clocks go forward from standard time to daylight saving time at the start of summer.
Researchers also found a small difference in the amount of sleep people get depending on the season.
Study author Doctor Ron Postuma, of McGill University in Canada, said: “Sleep plays an essential role in maintaining good health, mood, cognition, job performance, and social activity, and it is influenced by the circadian rhythm, the internal clock that regulates body processes.
“The good news is that the sleep disruptions we observed following the change to standard time were brief and no longer evident two weeks after the shift.”
The study involved more than 30,000 people, ages 45 to 85, who completed a questionnaire about sleep duration and satisfaction, ability to fall asleep, ability to remain asleep and excessive sleepiness during the day.
Questions included, “Over the last month, how often did it take you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep?” and “Over the last month, how often did you wake in the middle of the night or too early in the morning and found it difficult to fall asleep again?”
Those who responded three or more times a week to either of the questions were considered to have sleep problems.
For the change to standard time in autumn, researchers compared people who completed the questionnaire one week before the transition to those who completed it one week after.
After adjusting for age, sex and location, they found those who completed the survey one week after the transition had a 34 per cent increased risk of sleep dissatisfaction, with 28 per cent reporting sleep dissatisfaction compared to 23 per cent of those interviewed one week before.
Participants who completed the questionnaire one week after were also twice as likely to have difficulty falling asleep, a 64per cent increased risk of difficulty remaining asleep, and double the risk of excessive sleepiness during waking hours.
For the transition to daylight saving time (BST) in Spring, researchers compared people who completed the questionnaire one week before the change to those who completed it one week after.
They found no difference in sleep problems. However, they did find a nine-minute decrease in sleep duration one week after the transition.
Researchers looked at when participants completed the questionnaire: spring, summer, autumn or winter.
While they found no difference for sleep problems, they did find a small difference in sleep duration.
People who completed the questionnaire in summer had the shortest sleep duration, an average of 6.76 hours of sleep daily.
Participants who completed the survey in the winter had the longest sleep duration, an average of 6.84 hours of sleep daily, a difference of five minutes.
Dr Postuma said: “As disruptive as these transitions may feel in the short term, there may be few long-term implications of the repeated switch back and forth from daylight saving time to standard time.
“However, previous research has linked the transitions to and from daylight saving time with higher rates of accidents as well as an increased risk of stroke and heart attack.”
He added: “Future studies are needed that follow individuals over time, including people living in areas with different light exposure and seasonal changes.”
Dr Postuma said a limitation of the study was that it included only middle-aged and older adults, so results may not be the same among younger people.
