Scheduled afternoon–evening sleep leads to better night shift performance in older adults

The sleep timing group maintained stable performance and alertness during night shifts, while the control group experienced declines in both.

• Participants in the sleep timing group spent 8 hours in bed attempting to sleep after night shifts.
• The sleep timing group maintained their day shift sleep durations during night shifts.
• Wake duration before a night shift was linked to decreased sustained attention and increased self-reported sleepiness.
• Sleep duration before a night shift affected reaction time and sustained attention but did not influence self-reported sleepiness.
• Both sleep duration and timing could play important roles in night shift performance and alertness in older adults.

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