Abstract
We aimed to assess the relationship between subjective sleep quality and occupationally-relevant outcomes in military personnel. Participants were from an elite unit of US Army soldiers who worked extended (~30 h) shifts (with minimal recovery time between shifts) during 3-week work sessions. Questionnaires assessing subjective sleep quality during the month prior (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) were administered at the beginning of the session. Occupational outcomes (emotional exhaustion, functional impairment, role overload, daytime sleepiness) were assessed on the final day of the session. Regression analyses were conducted to link sleep quality and occupational outcomes. The study sample participants had relatively poor sleep prior to the exercise (PSQI Global score average = 6.3 ± 3.1). Higher PSQI Global Scores prior to the work session longitudinally predicted daytime sleepiness (f2: 0.56) after the work session. PSQI component 7, which queries daytime dysfunction attributed to poor sleep quality, longitudinally predicted emotional exhaustion, functional impairment, and role overload (f2 range: 0.19–0.70). In conclusion, poor sleep quality—in aggregation with occupationally-mandated sleep loss—is predictive of poorer subsequent occupational outcomes. Future work should aim to increase sleep opportunities prior to occupationally-mandated sleep loss in order to build resilience when sleep loss is unavoidable.
Highlights
Sleep is critical for maintaining proper psychological [1,2] and physical health [3,4]
We examined the link between sleep quality and multiple occupational outcomes: emotional exhaustion, functional impairment, role overload, and daytime sleepiness
The current study focuses on the former concept—how does sleep quality prior to mandated sleep loss longitudinally predict the selected outcomes after sleep loss occurs? We hypothesized that better sleep quality prior to a work session containing sleep loss would predict occupationally relevant measures of performance at the end of the sleep-loss period
Summary
Sleep is critical for maintaining proper psychological [1,2] and physical health [3,4]. Individuals with occupations that require extended work hours or who work during unconventional hours are negatively impacted by non-ideal sleep patterns. It is well-established that poor sleep quality and sleep loss lead to poor occupational outcomes in physicians, nurses, and first responders [5,6,7,8,9,10]. To date, little work has been done to investigate the impact of poor sleep quality on active duty military service members. Military occupations come with unique challenges, such as continuous operations (e.g., 36-h work shifts), physically grueling work, and situations that can lead to injury or loss of life. We examined the link between sleep quality and multiple occupational outcomes: emotional exhaustion, functional impairment, role overload, and daytime sleepiness
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