Citation

Tucker P, Folkard S, Ansiau D, Marquie JC. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 2010; 52(4): 392-398.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. p.t.tucker@swan.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181d8d9e4

PMID

20357676

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: With the workforces in industrialized countries getting older, this study sought to determine how shiftworking affects sleep in later life.

METHOD: Longitudinal data were collected from a large sample in 1996, 2001, and 2006 from employees who were 32, 42, 52, and 62 years old in 1996.

RESULTS: The effects of shift work were most apparent in the early and middle years of working life. Former shiftworkers reported more sleep problems than both current shiftworkers and those who had never worked shifts. Giving up shift work off-set the age-related accumulation of sleep problems, with the net result that former shiftworkers showed little or no change in sleep problems over the three measurement occasions.

CONCLUSIONS: The effects of shift work on sleep may persist for a long time after giving up shift work but they are not permanent.

Language: en