0213 Sleep and well-being of culinary specialists on United States Navy ships

Abstract

Abstract Introduction In the US Navy, “galley workers” are those sailors involved in cooking and preparing meals and maintaining the overall cleanliness and hygiene of the galley spaces and messdecks. These sailors begin their workday in the ship’s kitchen in the early morning, working until late in the evening, typically sleeping at night. The purpose of the current study was to assess the fatigue levels, work/rest patterns, health-related behaviors, and well-being of galley workers on US Navy ships while underway. Methods In this longitudinal field assessment, 80 fit-for-duty US Navy galley workers performed their normal duties on 11 surface ships. Participants wore actigraphs, and completed activity logs and questionnaires to include four standardized tools (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index – PSQI; Epworth Sleepiness Scale – ESS; Insomnia Severity Index – ISI; Profile of Mood States – POMS). Results Galley workers had a median age of 25 (IQR=11.8) years and most of them were male (68, 85.0%). Most galley workers reported drinking caffeinated beverages (60, 80.0%), with nicotine or tobacco products used by 22 (29.3%) participants. In terms of working out, 46 (61.3%) reported having an exercise routine. The typical schedule of the galley workers included sleeping at night with work hours extending from around 6:00 AM till 8:00 PM. Specifically, they slept on average 6.57±0.85 hours/day (~29% slept < 6 hours/day) and worked 12.8±2.43 hours/day (25% worked >14.5 hours/day). Approximately 84% were classified as poor sleepers, ~57% had excessive daytime sleepiness, and ~38% had elevated insomnia symptoms. Compared to adult norms for the POMS total and subscales scores, the mood of galley workers was worse in terms of total mood disturbance (84.1%), tension-anxiety (71.4%), anger-hostility (79.4%), vigor-activity (77.8%), fatigue (68.3%), and confusion-bewilderment (73.0%). Conclusion Galley workers on USN ships are chronically sleep-deprived and work long hours. To ameliorate the detrimental effects of these issues on sailor well-being, leaders should consider adopting strategies to improve sailor well-being. For example, appropriately timed short naps during the day, use of caffeine, and exposure to bright light may be viable methods to incorporate into the daily schedule of galley workers to alleviate the effects of their arduous work schedules. Support (if any)