Citation

Merkus SL, Holte KA, Huysmans MA, Van De Ven PM, Van Mechelen W, van der Beek AJ. Saf. Health Work 2015; 6(3): 240-248.

Affiliation

Department of Public and Occupational Health and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Body@Work TNO VUmc, Research Center on Physical Activity, Work and Health, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute)

DOI

10.1016/j.shaw.2015.07.003

PMID

26929834

PMCID

PMC4674502

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recovery from fatigue is important in maintaining night workers' health. This study compared the course of self-reported recovery after 2-week 12-hour schedules consisting of either night shifts or swing shifts (i.e., 7 night shifts followed by 7 day shifts) to such schedules consisting of only day work.

METHODS: Sixty-one male offshore employees-20 night workers, 16 swing shift workers, and 25 day workers-rated six questions on fatigue (sleep quality, feeling rested, physical and mental fatigue, and energy levels; scale 1-11) for 14 days after an offshore tour. After the two night-work schedules, differences on the 1(st) day (main effects) and differences during the follow-up (interaction effects) were compared to day work with generalized estimating equations analysis.

RESULTS: After adjustment for confounders, significant main effects were found for sleep quality for night workers (1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.89) and swing shift workers (1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.94) when compared to day workers; their interaction terms were not statistically significant. For the remaining fatigue outcomes, no statistically significant main or interaction effects were found.

CONCLUSION: After 2-week 12-hour night and swing shifts, only the course for sleep quality differed from that of day work. Sleep quality was poorer for night and swing shift workers on the 1(st) day off and remained poorer for the 14-day follow-up. This showed that while working at night had no effect on feeling rested, tiredness, and energy levels, it had a relatively long-lasting effect on sleep quality.

Language: en