TITLE:
Relationship between Sleep and Subjective Fatigue in Rotating Shift Nurses: Validation Using a Wearable Device
AUTHORS:
Yuko Yoshida, Naomi Sumi, Naotaka Sugimura, Fumie Nemoto, Rika Yano
KEYWORDS:
Fatigue, Rotating Shifts, Nurse, Sleep
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.8 No.4,
April
30,
2018
ABSTRACT: The objective
of this study was to determine if sleep indicators are associated with
subjective fatigue in nurses working in a rotating, two-shift system with a
16-hour night shift, using the wearable device Fitbit One. Subjective fatigue
was evaluated using the Subjective Fatigue Symptom Questionnaire (SFSQ), a
rating scale developed by the Working Group for Occupational Fatigue of the
Japan Society for Occupational Health. Subjects were asked to continuously wear
a Fitbit One to obtain the following data: time in bed (TIB), deep sleep time,
length and frequency of nighttime awakening, sleep efficiency, waking time, and
bed time. Nurses had a mean age and standard deviation of 33.2 ± 7.5 years and had worked as nurses for 9.8 ± 6.2 years on average.
Eight nurses were in their 20s (42.1%), 5 in their 30s (26.3%), and 6 in their
40s (31.6%). All participants
were female. Participants’ SFSQ scores calculated from the 9 evenings in the
study period were averaged to establish a threshold for categorizing
high-fatigue (HF) and low-fatigue (LF) groups. No significant differences were found between HF and
LF nurses in terms of TIB, deep sleep time, nighttime awakening time or
frequency, or sleep efficiency on any type of day (as classified by shift, day
off, etc.). Nurses in both groups woke up significantly later on days off and
on pre-night-shift days than on day-shift days.
These results demonstrate the variation in sleep patterns of nurses on a
rotating, two-shift system between day-shift and night-shift days.