Performance, sleep and circadian phase during a week of simulated night work.

Oct 21, 2003Journal of human ergology

Performance, Sleep, and Body Clock Timing During a Week of Simulated Night Work

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Abstract

A mean phase delay of 5.5 hours in melatonin levels was observed over a week of simulated night shifts.

Performance significantly increased throughout the week of night shifts.
Sleep quality improved, despite a slight reduction in total sleep time during daytime rest.
A small cumulative sleep debt of 3.53 hours was recorded over the week.
Adaptation in performance may occur when sleep loss is minimized alongside circadian phase shifts.

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The current study investigated changes in night-time performance, daytime sleep, and circadian phase during a week of simulated shift work. Fifteen young subjects participated in an adaptation and baseline night sleep, directly followed by seven night shifts. Subjects slept from approximately 0800 hr until they naturally awoke. Polysomnographic data was collected for each sleep period. Saliva samples were collected at half hourly intervals, from 2000 hr to bedtime. Each night, performance was tested at hourly intervals. Analysis indicated that there was a significant increase in mean performance across the week. In general, sleep was not negatively affected. Rather, sleep quality appeared to improve across the week. However, total sleep time (TST) for each day sleep was slightly reduced from baseline, resulting in a small cumulative sleep debt of 3.53 (SD = 5.62) hours. Finally, the melatonin profile shifted across the week, resulting in a mean phase delay of 5.5 hours. These findings indicate that when sleep loss is minimized and a circadian phase shift occurs, adaptation of performance can occur during several consecutive night shifts.

Performance, sleep and circadian phase during a week of simulated night work.

Abstract

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