Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, Vienna, Austria.
Certificate Programme Sleep Coaching, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Chronobiol Int. 2021 Nov;38(11):1611-1617. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2021.1937199. Epub 2021 Jun 14.
The 24/7 economic activity has led to a growing demand for shift workers who now make up about 21% of the working population in Europe. Shift work causes desynchronization of biological and social rhythms and therefore increases the risk for physiological and psychological health issues. Night shifts, but in particular irregular shifts are considered to have numerous harmful effects on health and well-being. In this investigation, 185 shift workers employed at an Austrian railway company, filled in online questionnaires, which included the PSQI, the ESS, and items assessing sleep issues, their impact on life quality, and individual shift schedules. Results show that those shift workers who rated their shifts schedules as irregular reported significantly lower sleep quality according to the PSQI Global Score and the PSQI subscales subjective sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and sleep duration. The probability of taking sleep medication was higher in shift workers whose schedules include more night shifts. In addition, participants who regularly worked on days after night shifts classified their complaints due to shift work as more severe. Future investigations should include more external and internal factors that influence the perception and handling of different working conditions. Nevertheless, our findings shed light on the particular situation of the railroad workers´population and show how important subjective perceptions are in dealing with shift work. The importance of sleep education and thematically relevant training becomes clear in order to prevent serious consequences on sleep and overall health.
24/7 的经济活动导致对轮班工人的需求不断增长,他们现在占欧洲劳动力的 21%左右。轮班工作导致生物和社会节奏的不同步,因此增加了生理和心理健康问题的风险。夜班,特别是不规则的班次,被认为对健康和幸福有许多有害影响。在这项研究中,185 名在奥地利铁路公司工作的轮班工人填写了在线问卷,其中包括 PSQI、ESS 和评估睡眠问题及其对生活质量影响的项目以及个人轮班时间表。结果表明,那些认为自己的轮班时间表不规则的轮班工人根据 PSQI 全球评分和 PSQI 子量表主观睡眠质量、白天嗜睡和睡眠时间报告的睡眠质量显著降低。轮班时间表包括更多夜班的轮班工人服用睡眠药物的概率更高。此外,经常在夜班后上白班的参与者将因轮班工作而产生的抱怨归类为更严重。未来的研究应包括影响不同工作条件的感知和处理的更多外部和内部因素。尽管如此,我们的研究结果揭示了铁路工人群体的特殊情况,并展示了主观感知在处理轮班工作时的重要性。为了防止睡眠和整体健康出现严重后果,睡眠教育和相关主题培训的重要性变得显而易见。