Shift Work-Related Problems in 16-h Night Shift Nurses (1): Development of An Automated Data Processing System for Questionnaires, Heart Rate, Physical Activity and Posture.

May 13, 1999Industrial health

Problems related to 16-hour night shifts in nurses (1): Creating an automated system to analyze surveys, heart rate, activity, and posture

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Abstract

A new automated data processing system can analyze large amounts of data from various measuring devices quickly and efficiently.

The system utilizes image scanning, optical character recognition, and common software to streamline data analysis.
It addresses challenges associated with analyzing extensive data sets in field studies.
The approach may improve the efficiency of evaluating shift work-related health issues.
Continuous recording of physical activity and heart rate provides objective indices for study participants.
Subjective assessments of sleep and daily behavior are incorporated alongside objective measures.

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To assess the shift work-related problems associated with a 16-h night shift in a two-shift system, we took the following important factors into consideration; the interaction between circadian rhythms and the longer night shift, the type of morningness and eveningness experienced, the subjective sleep feeling, the subjects' daily behavior, the effectiveness of taking a nap during the long night shift, and finally the effectiveness of using several different kinds of measuring devices. Included among the measuring devices used were a standard questionnaire, repetitive self-assessment of subjective symptoms and daily behavior at short intervals, and a continuous recording of such objective indices as physical activity and heart rate. A potential problem lies in the fact that field studies that use such measures tend to produce a mass of data, and are thus faced with the accompanying technical problem of analyzing such a large amount of data (time, effort and cost). To solve the data analysis problem, we developed an automated data processing system. Through the use of an image scanner with a paper feeder, standard paper, an optical character recognition function and common application software, we were able to analyze a mass of data continuously and automatically within a short time. Our system should prove useful for field studies that produce a large amount of data collected with several different kinds of measuring devices.

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Shift Work-Related Problems in 16-h Night Shift Nurses (1): Development of An Automated Data Processing System for Questionnaires, Heart Rate, Physical Activity and Posture.

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