Jay Sarah M, Smith Bradley P, Windler Samantha, Dorrian Jillian, Ferguson Sally A
Central Queensland University, Appleton Institute, Wayville 5034, South Australia.
Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, South Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Jan 29;13(2):173. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13020173.
Adequate sleep is fundamental to workplace performance. For volunteer firefighters who work in safety critical roles, poor performance at work can be life threatening. Extended shifts and sleeping conditions negatively impact sleep during multi-day fire suppression campaigns. Having sleep disordered breathing (SDB) could contribute further to sleep deficits. Our aim was to investigate whether those with suspected SDB slept and performed more poorly during a fire ground simulation involving sleep restriction. Participants, n = 20 participated in a 3-day-4-night fire ground simulation. Based on oximetry desaturation index data collected during their participation, participants were retrospectively allocated to either a SDB (n = 8) or a non-SDB group (n = 12). The simulation began with an 8 h Baseline sleep (BL) followed by two nights of restricted (4 h) sleep and an 8 h recovery sleep (R). All sleeps were recorded using a standard electroencephalography (EEG) montage as well as oxygen saturation. During the day, participants completed neurobehavioral (response time, lapses and subjective fatigue) tasks. Mixed effects ANOVA were used to compare differences in sleep and wake variables. Analyses revealed a main effect of group for Total sleep (TST), REM , wake after sleep onset (WASO) and Arousals/h with the SDB group obtaining less TST and REM and greater WASO and Arousals/h. The group × night interaction was significant for N3 with the SDB group obtaining 42 min less during BL. There was a significant main effect of day for RRT, lapses and subjective fatigue and a significant day × group interaction for RRT. Overall, the SDB group slept less, experienced more disturbed sleep and had poorer response time performance, which was exacerbated by the second night of sleep restriction. This could present a safety concern, particularly during longer campaigns and is worthy of further investigation. In addition, we would recommend promotion of awareness of SDB, its symptoms and potential impact among volunteers and relevant agencies.
充足的睡眠是工作场所表现的基础。对于担任安全关键角色的志愿消防员来说，工作表现不佳可能会危及生命。在多日灭火行动中，长时间轮班和睡眠条件会对睡眠产生负面影响。患有睡眠呼吸障碍（SDB）可能会进一步导致睡眠不足。我们的目的是调查在涉及睡眠限制的火场模拟中，那些疑似患有SDB的人睡眠和表现是否更差。20名参与者参加了为期3天4夜的火场模拟。根据他们参与期间收集的血氧饱和度下降指数数据，参与者被回顾性地分为SDB组（n = 8）或非SDB组（n = 12）。模拟开始时进行8小时的基线睡眠（BL），随后是两晚的受限（4小时）睡眠和8小时的恢复睡眠（R）。所有睡眠均使用标准脑电图（EEG）导联以及血氧饱和度进行记录。白天，参与者完成神经行为（反应时间、失误和主观疲劳）任务。使用混合效应方差分析来比较睡眠和觉醒变量的差异。分析显示，在总睡眠时间（TST）、快速眼动睡眠（REM）、睡眠开始后的觉醒时间（WASO）和每小时觉醒次数方面，组间存在主效应，SDB组的TST和REM较少，WASO和每小时觉醒次数较多。在N3睡眠阶段，组×夜交互作用显著，SDB组在BL阶段比非SDB组少42分钟。在反应时间（RRT）、失误和主观疲劳方面，白天存在显著的主效应，在RRT方面，白天×组交互作用显著。总体而言，SDB组睡眠较少，睡眠干扰较多，反应时间表现较差，睡眠限制的第二晚情况会更加严重。这可能会带来安全隐患，尤其是在更长时间的行动中，值得进一步调查。此外，我们建议提高志愿者和相关机构对SDB及其症状和潜在影响的认识。
