Abstract
About 30% of Canadian workers are on shift work schedules, and 8% to 32% of them suffer from Shift Work Disorder (SWD). Only a few behavioural treatments exist to treat this population. This study explores the efficacy and feasibility of sleep restriction therapy for insomnia in a group of night shift workers. Six participants (3 women) meeting SWD criteria were recruited. Mean age was 45.7 years old (SD=8.2). A multiple baseline design was used. After baseline, each participant received six to eight weekly treatment sessions. They completed several selfreported questionnaires and a daily sleep diary throughout the study. For each sleep period, sleep variables were calculated from the sleep diary. Two participants had a high treatment response and all others participants had a moderate response. Moreover, all participants presented at least two significant clinical improvements. Five participants presented a decreased in both sleepiness scores. The study suggests that sleep restriction therapy is effective, feasible, and reliable. Sleep restriction therapy for insomnia could improve sleep and diminish sleepiness in shift workers suffering from SWD. The present study opens new possibilities of treatment for shift workers that deserve greater attention in the future.
Highlights
Shift work is a reality of our contemporary industrial world
When those sleep difficulties are insomnia or excessive sleepiness associated with the work schedule, they are called Shift Work Disorder (SWD) [2]
This study aims at exploring the efficacy of sleep restriction therapy adapted for SWD including insomnia symptoms
Summary
Shift work is a reality of our contemporary industrial world. this work schedule involves approximately 28% of the Canadian work force [1]. Specific negatives consequences are linked to SWD It is associated with an increased risk of depression, morbidity and gastric ulcers [3], cardiovascular disease, cancer, reproductive troubles [6] and a decrease in quality of life [4,5,7]. Among all the interventions presently offered to shift workers, some provide improvement on either sleep or alertness but they fail to improve the whole symptomatology of SWD [21] and none of them, except hypnotics, address insomnia in shift work. Nonpharmacological treatments for insomnia such as CBT-I are recommended as a standard treatment for chronic insomnia [24]
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