A PILOT STUDY EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK PRODUCTIVITY AND CIRCADIAN MISALIGNMENT IN NIGHT SHIFT WORK

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

5-1-2024

Publication Title

Sleep

Abstract

Introduction: There has been general agreement that circadian misalignment is a primary driver of poor outcomes associated with night shifts, such as insomnia, excessive sleepiness, and impaired work productivity. However, few studies have utilized gold-standard measures of circadian rhythms (eg, dim light melatonin onset and offset; DLMO and DLMOff) in examining its association with outcomes. This pilot data aimed to examine the magnitude of the relationship between circadian misalignment and work productivity in night shift workers. Methods: Participants were fixed night shift workers, engaging in at least three shifts per week with their shift beginning between 18:00 and 02:00 and lasting 8 to 12 hours. DLMO and DLMOff were assessed in-lab with 24 hourly salvia collections. Work productivity was measured with the Endicott Work Productivity Scale (EWPS). Circadian misalignment was operationalized as any overlap of DLMO and DLMOff during the participant's work shift. Insomnia and excessive sleepiness were operationalized as a score of 10 or greater on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI; referenced to daytime sleep) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Results: Night shift workers with circadian misalignment reported an EWPS score of 43.2 (SD=12.1), while those without circadian misalignment scored 39.6 (SD=15.6). The Cohen's d effect size was 0.26. In contrast, those with insomnia reported an average EWPS score of 43.9 (SD=13.6) compared to 36.1 (SD=8.5) for those without insomnia (Cohen's d = 0.69). Furthermore, those with excessive sleepiness had an average EWPS score of 44.7 (SD=14.2), versus 39.1 (SD=10.7) for those without excessive sleepiness (Cohen's d = 0.44). Conclusion: These results suggest that the association between circadian misalignment and work productivity in night shift workers may be smaller than anticipated. Instead, work productivity in night shift worker may be more strongly associated with symptoms of shift work disorder. These data are consistent with evidence that insomnia in non-shift workers are associated with higher absenteeism and presenteeism. This is also consistent with our prior research indicating that symptoms of shift work disorder can be influenced by various factors, including sleep reactivity.

Volume

47

First Page

A3

Last Page

A4

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