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Perception versus Reality: The Relationship between Subjective and Objective Measures of Sleep When On-call under
M Sprajcer1, G E Vincent1, S M Jay1
1Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Adelaide, Australia.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine
|August 25, 2020
Summary
On-call workers may overestimate sleep latency and underestimate sleep duration. Objective sleep measures correlate with subjective estimates, suggesting fatigue management should consider more than just sleep perception.
Area of Science:
- Sleep Medicine
- Occupational Health
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- On-call work is linked to negative sleep impacts.
- Workers' perceptions of sleep may differ from objective measures.
- Investigating discrepancies between perceived and actual sleep is crucial for on-call workers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare subjective sleep estimates with objective sleep measurements in on-call workers.
- To determine the relationship between perceived and objectively measured sleep duration and quality.
- To assess the accuracy of sleep estimations under laboratory-controlled on-call conditions.
Main Methods:
- 72 healthy adult males participated in laboratory-based studies.
- Objective sleep was measured using polysomnography over four nights.
- Subjective sleep estimates (duration, quality, latency) were collected before and after sleep opportunities.
Main Results:
- Subjective sleep duration and latency estimates significantly differed from objective polysomnography data.
- Objective measures of N3 and REM sleep explained 14% of the variance in estimated sleep duration.
- Objective measures of N2 and N3 sleep explained 14% of the variance in estimated sleep quality.
Conclusions:
- Objective sleep parameters correlate with subjective sleep estimations.
- On-call workers may overestimate sleep onset latency and underestimate sleep duration.
- Workplace fatigue management strategies should incorporate objective data and self-reflection on alertness, not solely subjective sleep estimates.
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