Journal article
The Impact of Shift Work on Sleep, Alertness and Performance in Healthcare Workers
S Ganesan, M Magee, JE Stone, MD Mulhall, A Collins, ME Howard, SW Lockley, SMW Rajaratnam, TL Sletten
Scientific Reports | NATURE PORTFOLIO | Published : 2019
Open access
Abstract
Shift work is associated with impaired alertness and performance due to sleep loss and circadian misalignment. This study examined sleep between shift types (day, evening, night), and alertness and performance during day and night shifts in 52 intensive care workers. Sleep and wake duration between shifts were evaluated using wrist actigraphs and diaries. Subjective sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, KSS) and Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) performance were examined during day shift, and on the first and subsequent night shifts (3 rd , 4 th or 5 th ). Circadian phase was assessed using urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin rhythms. Sleep was most restricted between consecutive night shifts (5..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank Kaitlyn Crocker, Trisha D'Lima, Emma Giliberto, Aaron Johnson, Matthew McLaren, Niamh McDonald and Jessica Papaleo for assisting with data collection and data entry, Mark Salkeld at the Adelaide Research Assay Facility for running the radioimmunoassays, Associate Professor Graeme Hart, Dr. Glenn Eastwood and Helen Young for their support in the implementation of this study, and participating staff from the Intensive Care Unit at Austin Hospital. This work is supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for Alertness, Safety and Productivity, Australia.