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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments
Published on: August 8, 2019
Impact of nighttime awakenings on worker productivity and performance
Gary K Zammit1, Vijay N Joish, Meg C Kong
1Clinilabs Inc, New York, NY 10025, USA. gzammit@clinilabs.com
Objective:
To describe the relationship between nighttime awakenings and work performance.
Methods:
Employees (N = 4188) at four US companies described their sleep patterns and completed the Work Limitations Questionnaire. Participants were categorized by number of nighttime awakenings: 0 (n = 464; 11%), 1 to 2 (n = 2373; 58%), 3 to 4 (n = 984; 24%), or > or =5 (n = 289; 7%). Work Limitations Questionnaire performance and productivity measures were compared among the groups using a one-way analysis of variance model.
Results:
Thirty-one percent of the sample averaged > or =3 nighttime awakenings. Compared with respondents with fewer nighttime awakenings, these respondents had the greatest work performance and productivity impairments across a wide range of dimensions.
Conclusions:
Workers who experienced > or =3 nighttime awakenings have poorer work productivity and performance than do workers who experience fewer awakenings.
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