Multidisciplinary Sleep Disorders Center, Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), Drie Eikenstraat 655 - 2650, Edegem, Belgium.
Department of Psychiatry, Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), Drie Eikenstraat 655 - 2650, Edegem, Belgium.
Trials. 2022 Aug 17;23(1):662. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06573-6.
Shift work is commonly associated with health problems resulting from circadian misalignment and sleep restriction. About one in three shift workers is affected by insomnia and up to 90% report regular fatigue and/or sleepiness at the workplace. Epidemiological data shows that shift workers are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, breast cancer, mental-health problems, and shift-work disorder, which conditions typically lead to reduced work performance, processing errors, accidents at work, absenteeism, and reduced quality of life. Given these widespread and debilitating consequences, there is an urgent need for treatments that help improve the sleep, health, and functional performance of the shift-working population. The most common non-pharmacological recommendations are improved scheduling, bright-light exposure, napping, psychoeducation promoting sleep hygiene, and cognitive-behavioral techniques. The objectives of the present study are to investigate the effects of a multimodal shift-work intervention on perceived fatigue, sleepiness, physical and mental health, sleep parameters, and absenteeism.
A randomized controlled interventional study comparing the two groups each comprising at least 80 drivers of a public transport company, using self-report questionnaires and health checks completed at intake and after 3 and 6 months following the start of the intervention or waiting-list period. The intervention consists of (a) healthy scheduling taking into account shift-rotation direction and speed, chronotype, resting time, and napping; (b) an education program specifically developed for shift workers; and (c) a dedicated information campaign for shift planners. The primary outcome is symptomatic burden in terms of sleepiness, and the key secondary outcome is symptomatic burden in terms of fatigue. Supplementary secondary outcomes are sleep parameters, absenteeism, general and clinical health, changes in mood, and anxiety.
Expected outcomes are significant improvements on all primary and secondary outcome parameters in the intervention group. To our knowledge, ours is the first randomized controlled study to systematically investigate the effects of a multimodal program on multiple health, sleep, and performance parameters in shift workers. Our research also aims at providing evidence-based practice guidelines for healthy scheduling in general and thus contribute to diminishing the serious health and economic burdens associated with shift work overall.
EDGE registration number: 000339.
gov NCT05452096.
轮班工作通常与昼夜节律失调和睡眠限制导致的健康问题有关。大约三分之一的轮班工人受到失眠的影响，高达 90%的人报告在工作场所经常感到疲劳和/或困倦。流行病学数据显示，轮班工人患心血管疾病、糖尿病、肥胖、乳腺癌、心理健康问题和轮班工作障碍的风险增加，这些情况通常会导致工作表现下降、处理错误、工作场所事故、旷工和生活质量下降。鉴于这些广泛而衰弱的后果，迫切需要治疗方法来帮助改善轮班工作人群的睡眠、健康和功能表现。最常见的非药物治疗建议包括改善排班、强光照射、小睡、促进睡眠卫生的心理教育以及认知行为技术。本研究的目的是调查多模式轮班工作干预对感知疲劳、困倦、身心健康、睡眠参数和旷工的影响。
这是一项比较两组的随机对照干预研究，每组至少包括一家公共交通公司的 80 名司机，使用自我报告问卷和健康检查，在干预或等待名单开始后 3 个月和 6 个月进行。干预措施包括：（a）考虑到轮班旋转方向和速度、昼夜节律、休息时间和小睡来制定健康的排班计划；（b）专门为轮班工人开发的教育计划；（c）为轮班计划者提供专门的信息宣传活动。主要结果是嗜睡方面的症状负担，主要次要结果是疲劳方面的症状负担。补充次要结果是睡眠参数、旷工、一般和临床健康、情绪和焦虑的变化。
预计干预组所有主要和次要结果参数都会显著改善。据我们所知，这是第一项系统研究多模式方案对轮班工人多项健康、睡眠和表现参数影响的随机对照研究。我们的研究还旨在为健康排班提供循证实践指南，从而有助于减轻与轮班工作相关的严重健康和经济负担。
EDGE 注册号：000339。
gov NCT05452096。
