Sleep Assessment During Shift Work in Korean Firefighters: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Sleep Medicine
• Public Safety

Background:

• Firefighters often work demanding shift schedules.
• Assessing sleep quality in this population is crucial for well-being and performance.
• Understanding the impact of different shift types on sleep is an ongoing research area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate sleep quality in Korean firefighters using objective measures.
• To investigate the relationship between shift work parameters and sleep assessment outcomes.
• To compare sleep quality across different shift work schedules.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 359 Korean firefighters (65 day workers, 294 shift workers).
• Objective sleep assessment using ActiGraph (wGT3X-BT) over 24-hour periods during day shifts, night shifts, and rest days.
• Participants self-recorded bedtime and sleep duration.

Main Results:

• Shift workers exhibited lower sleep efficiency and total sleep time during night shifts compared to day workers.
• Sleep efficiency declined during night shifts and improved on rest days; wake after sleep onset showed inverse patterns.
• The 6-day shift group had higher sleep efficiency during day shifts, while the 21-day shift group had lower sleep efficiency during night shifts.

Conclusions:

• Night shift work significantly impairs sleep quality in firefighters.
• The 6-day shift pattern appears to support better sleep quality compared to the 21-day shift.
• Implementing faster rotating shifts, such as the 6-day shift, is recommended to enhance firefighter sleep quality.