A Brief Note on Shift Work and Shift Work Disorder: New Directions for Old Problems
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A Brief Note on Shift Work and Shift Work Disorder: New Directions for Old Problems Daniel Ruivo Marques1,2 · Fernando Carlos Ferreira1 · Rui Jorge Dias Costa3 Received: 6 August 2020 / Revised: 4 September 2020 / Accepted: 14 September 2020 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
Shift work (SW) refers to a set of nontraditional work schedules, being a common form of working all over the world. Put it simply, it refers to any work schedule that occurs outside of the traditional 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. work day [1]. In the last decades, sleep scientists have studied SW and shiftwork disorder (SWD) consequences to promote better adjustment and well-being of the workers. Despite these efforts, there are several questions which remain to be answered. The main problem concerning SW and particularly SWD concerns to a misalignment between circadian rhythm and sleep–wake cycle. In other words, the individuals should be vigilant and prepared to work when their endogenous biological clocks are prepared to sleep; conversely, when individuals leave their work and return to home to sleep, their bodies are fully alert and ready to start the day in the morning, for example. Traditionally, various SW types can be defined: night shift work, early-morning shift work and evening/afternoon shift work. Moreover, other features are essential to capture the SW complexity: Is it a permanent or a rotating shift worker? Are there rapid or slow shift rotations? How is elaborated the shift scheduling? Clockwise or counterclockwise? In fact, these are critical questions that make the SW and SWD a challenge for sleep scientists. With this brief reflection, we aim at proposing two new research topics to advance the field—one more related to assessment and the other pertaining to intervention.
* Daniel Ruivo Marques [email protected] 1
Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810‑193 Aveiro, Portugal
2
CINEICC, Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
3
Health School, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810‑193 Aveiro, Portugal
As to assessment, one important pathway to follow from now on—to better evaluate shift worker experience—is to adapt the traditional self-report measures currently used in sleep medicine. Given their specificity, SW and SWD need appropriate measures taking into account the associated sleep and work patterns of individuals who are shift-workers. The Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire (BSWSQ) is an important tool (and the only one at least to our knowledge) that values this aspect [2]. Below each BSWSQ’s item, the response options (i.e., “when you are working day shift/ ordinary day work?”; “when you are working evening shift/ evening work?”; “when you are working night shift/ night work?”; “when you are not working (rest days/vacations)?”) enable the characterization of insomnia and tire
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