Using a circadian rhythms model to evaluate shift schedules

As long as the need for shiftwork exists, so will the demand for an optimal scheduling strategy that balances the needs of both industry and the shiftworker. One aim is for schedules that require workers to be on duty during the times that they are most naturally alert and awake. Czeisler et al. (1982) developed a set of circadian rhythm based guidelines intended to aid in designing such shiftwork schedules. This paper takes research one step further by testing such empirical criteria in a mathematical setting. The two-oscillator model of free-run human circadian rhythms developed by Kronauer et al. (1982) was modified to represent the circadian rhythms of a shiftworker on a pre-selected shiftwork schedule. Numerical simulations were used to compare the circadian rhythms produced from a variety of shiftwork schedules to the free-run rhythms. Shift schedules that resulted in circadian rhythms closest to the free-run rhythms were identified as preferred schedules. The numerical results supported Czeisler's findings (1982), indicating the best shift schedules adopt a slow, forward-shifting rotation pattern, rotate shifts after 2-week periods and allow an average of 2 days off per week.