The Impact of on-Call Work for Partners' Sleep, Relationship Quality and Daytime Functioning.

Simone Karan,Sally Ferguson,Sarah Jay,Grace Vincent

doi:10.3390/clockssleep1010016

Simone Karan, Sally Ferguson + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep1010016

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Journal: Clocks & sleep	Publication Date: Mar 5, 2019
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Central Queensland University

Abstract

The on-call schedule is a common work arrangement that allows for the continuance of services during periods of low demand or emergencies. Even though 17%–25% of the world’s population participate in on-call work, the human impacts of on-call are generally poorly described in the literature. Of the studies available on the effects of on-call work on workers, disturbances to sleep duration and sleep quality are the most commonly reported, along with negative sleep-related consequences on sleepiness, fatigue, stress and mood. Research has shown that for couples sharing a bed, disturbances to sleep can impair relationship conflict resolution and reduce relationship quality. In the ‘off-site’ on-call scenario where workers are sleeping at home, their co-sleeping partner may be at risk of sleep disturbances and the subsequent detrimental consequences of this disturbed sleep for themselves and their relationship. To date, few studies have investigated the impact of on-call work for partners’ sleep and the potential sleep-related consequences. Therefore, further studies are needed to specifically address whether on-call work impacts the sleep of partners and whether these sleep disturbances also impact the partner’s daily performance and relationship quality. Our aim was to provide a narrative around the existing, relevant literature that both investigate and inform the potential impact of on-call for workers’ partners’ sleep and related consequences.

Highlights

Non-standard working hours are prolific in our 24-h global society
Work related sleep disturbances contribute to serious effects on health and psychosocial well-being, yet the impacts of such disturbances by on-call work has been poorly defined, compared to other work arrangements, such as shiftwork
While on-call is perceived as a cost-effective strategy for employers, the impact of these work arrangements on the employee and their families is still poorly described in the literature

Summary

Introduction

Non-standard working hours are prolific in our 24-h global society. Not surprisingly the impacts of various working time arrangements for workers’ health and safety have been the focus of investigations which comprise a significant body of research (e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]). Specific knowledge about the impact of on-call work for workers’ family and community are limited to a few, subjective studies, predominantly in the emergency services sector [14,15,16,17,18]. This presents an important gap in current understanding, given that on-call work has significant potential to disturb the sleep of partners and family members due to calls and call-outs during the overnight period in combination with dyadic nature of sleep [19]. The aim of this narrative review is to provide information on a) the small body of work that investigates the impacts of on-call work for partners’ sleep and b) other, relevant literature that informs the potential impact of on-call for workers’ partners in terms of sleep and subsequent consequences of disturbed sleep such as relationship quality and daytime functioning

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