International Journal of Occupational Hygiene (Apr 2017)
Sleep Quality and Sleepiness: A Comparison between Nurses with and without Shift Work, and University Employees
Abstract
Shift work is an important factor influencing the sleep quality and sleepiness of nurses. The aim of the present research was to compare sleep quality in three groups: 1) nurses with shift work SN), 2) nurses without shift work (DN) as a control group for evaluating the effects of shift work, 3) regular non-shift employees (DE) who were not nurses, as a control group for the nursing job; to evaluate the effect of shift work and the nursing job in regard to sleep quality. The present cross-sectional study was carried out in 2013. The research participants were 326 nurses without shift work and with shift work and employees from one of Kerman University of Medical Sciences’ hospitals, Kerman, Iran. Data were gathered via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS 18. Overall, 91.2% of nurses (SN & DN) and 79.6% of employees (DE) had poor sleep quality. The sleep quality (P=0.013) and sleepiness (P=0.005) of all hospital nurses were significantly different from that of the university employees. However, there was not a significant difference between the nurses without and with shift work in terms of sleep quality (P=0.87) and sleepiness (P=0.41). Almost all nurses and most university employees suffer from poor sleep quality. Daily average sleep hours and shift work are among the influencing factors causing sleepiness and poor sleep quality.
