Association between chronotype and psychomotor performance of rotating shift workers

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Chronobiology
• Human Performance

Background:

• Shift work is known to negatively affect psychomotor performance.
• Chronotype, an individual's natural inclination towards sleep-wake patterns, may influence adaptation to shift work.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of chronotype on psychomotor performance during a complete shift rotation schedule.
• To assess how different chronotypes (early, intermediate, late) perform under day, evening, and night shifts.

Main Methods:

• Thirty male miners participated in a real-life study with a 2-day day, 2-day evening, 2-day night shift rotation.
• Chronotype was assessed using the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire.
• Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) and actigraphy were used to measure performance and sleep duration.

Main Results:

• No significant effect of shift work or interaction between shift and chronotype on performance was observed.
• Early-type chronotypes exhibited significantly slower Mean Reaction Times (MRT) compared to intermediate and late types.
• Late-type chronotypes showed a higher number of attention lapses than early and intermediate types.

Conclusions:

• Chronotype significantly influences psychomotor performance in rotating shift workers.
• Early chronotypes may experience slower reaction times, while late chronotypes are more prone to attention lapses, irrespective of the shift schedule.