Influence of altered circadian rhythm on quality of sleep and its association with cognition in shift nurses

Abstract

Background: Exposure to shift works and especially to night shifts goes against the circadian rhythm of the social man which brings about a multitude of disruptive effects on health such as sleep disturbances, day sleepiness, decreased cognitive performance, fatigue, increased risk of accidents, poor quality of life, and vigilance troubles. Aims and Objectives: Evaluate sleep quality and its association with cognition among hospital shift working nurses. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study to investigate the quality of sleep and association with cognition among shift working nurses. 50 of each night, day shift workers and those who never exposed to shift work participated in this study (n = 150). Sleep quality and seven domains of sleep, subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction were assessed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) questionnaire. Cognitive performance was ev aluated using reaction time (RT) test. Inter-and intra-group analysis was done using ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc analysis using SPSS 20 software. Results: Global score of PSQI, subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, and sleep medication was statistically high among night shift nurses suggesting poor sleep quality compared to day shift and controls (P = 0.021, P = 0.021, P = 0.00, P = 0.00). Intragroup analysis shows that simple visual RT and choice visual RT are significantly high in night shift nurses when compared to day shift and controls (P = 0.00). Positive correlationwas found between global PSQI score with RT (r = 0.096). Conclusion: Night shift workers have poor quality of sleep when compared to day shift workers and those who were never exposed to shift work. Our study also concludes that poor quality of sleep has strong association with reduced cognition.

Sleep quality and fatigue among nurses working in high-acuity clinical settings in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

“…Researchers have found that nurses on shift work frequently report sleep problems, including poorer sleep quality, sleep disturbances, sleep deprivation, and excessive sleepiness [8][9][10][11]. Poor sleep quality is prevalent among nurses worldwide [12][13][14][15].…”

Subjective vitality of night workers: Association with physical and mental health

“…The results obtained align with previous research in the health and psychological field (Hendriksen et Even though subjective vitality can be linked to specific physical signals of individuals, particularly night workers, its effect was observed more firmly on the perception of the status of mental health. The scope of the literature derived from night work studies is based on the circadian chronobiological cycle disorder, which plays a fundamental role in the modulation of human emotions and, therefore, can cause alterations in some functions of the behavior of individuals (Vijaykumar et al, 2018). Not surprisingly, relationships have been established between the molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms and psychiatric pathologies, such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, hyperactivity, and even schizophrenia (Vogel et al, 2012).…”

“…Many individuals in various trades and professions require the ability to actively perform their duties (remain alert) during unconventional working hours, such as night shifts. However, such activities can burden one's mental and physical health due to the frequent interruptions in circadian rhythm, which is motivated by an irregular sleep pattern (Vijaykumar et al, 2018). Specifically, jobs oriented to the security functions are intended to protect and ensure the integrity and wellbeing of people and assets.…”

The Relationship Between Circadian Rhythm and Temperament/Character of Nurses

“…The MEQ has 19 items, and its total score ranges from 16 to 86, with higher scores indicating more morningness and lower scores indicating more eveningness. There are 5 classifications based on the MEQ score: Definitely morning type (score 70-86), moderately morning type (score 59-69), neither type (score 42-58), moderately evening type (score 31-41), and definitely evening type (score [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Its internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient is 0.86, with favorable test-retest reliability.…”