ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Shift rotation schemes can influence workers' tolerance of night-shift work and its impact on health. AIMS: This study was aimed to assess the influence of shift work rotation schemes on sleepiness and sleep quality. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 145 male workers, 77 from a ceramic tile factory on a fixed, forward-rotating shift work scheme, and 68 from a dockyard company, working on-call night shifts. Participants self-administered the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaires and provided data on demographic and lifestyle variables. We set two logistic regression models to predict the risk of daytime sleepiness and poor sleep quality as a function of night-shift work and on-call night shifts, adjusting for personal and lifestyle covariates. RESULTS: Marital status, body mass index, smoking and alcohol intake did not affect ESS and PSQI scores, nor did they differ between the two cohorts. Night-shift workers from both cohorts were more likely to have a PSQI score ≥6, suggestive of poor sleep quality, with no variation between the two cohorts. ESS scores suggestive of daytime sleepiness were strongly associated with on-call night shifts among dockyard workers for (odds ratio = 13.4; 95% confidence interval 2.9-63.9), in respect the regular, forward-rotating night-shift work among ceramic tile factory workers. DISCUSSION: Daytime sleepiness occurred more frequently among dockyard workers working on-call night shifts. Poor sleep quality occurred more frequently among night-shift workers, but it did not differ between the two companies.
Subject(s)
Sleep Quality , Sleepiness , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Male , Sleep , Surveys and Questionnaires , Work Schedule ToleranceSubject(s)
Brain Injuries, Traumatic/diagnostic imaging , Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods , Disorders of Excessive Somnolence/diagnosis , Disorders of Excessive Somnolence/physiopathology , Magnetic Resonance Angiography , Brain Mapping , Disorders of Excessive Somnolence/etiology , Female , Humans , Middle AgedABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess sleep characteristics and the occurrence of abnormal muscle activity during sleep, such as REM sleep without atonia (RSWA), REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), and periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS), in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS: A total of 41 patients with ALS and 26 healthy subjects were submitted to clinical interview and overnight video-polysomnography. RESULTS: A total of 22 patients with ALS (53.6%) reported poor sleep quality. Polysomnographic studies showed that patients with ALS had reduced total sleep time, increased wakefulness after sleep onset, shortened REM and slow-wave sleep, and decreased sleep efficiency, compared to controls. Polysomnographic abnormalities were not different in patients reporting good or poor sleep and were not correlated to clinical and demographic variables. The PLMS index was significantly higher in patients with ALS than in healthy subjects, and 22 patients (53.6%) showed a PLMS index > 15/h, vs 4 (15.4%) controls (P < 0.001). Finally, two patients with ALS (4.9%) had RBD, and two more patients presented RSWA (4.9%), whereas no controls showed abnormalities of REM sleep. CONCLUSION: Patients with ALS frequently present abnormalities of sleep that can be documented both at the clinical interview and at the polysomnographic evaluation, including insomnia, fragmented sleep, and increased PLMS. Moreover, abnormalities of REM sleep can be found in some of these patients.
Subject(s)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/diagnosis , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/epidemiology , Nocturnal Myoclonus Syndrome/diagnosis , Nocturnal Myoclonus Syndrome/epidemiology , REM Sleep Behavior Disorder/diagnosis , REM Sleep Behavior Disorder/epidemiology , Sleep Stages/physiology , Aged , Female , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Polysomnography/methodsABSTRACT
Six population samples of randomly chosen men and women aged 20-59 years in the four provinces of the island of Sardinia, for a total of 5,697 individuals (overall participation 55%), were examined to determine the mean levels and distribution of some risk factors for atherosclerosis. A remarkable uniformity of such levels, with some minor exceptions, was found throughout the island. The overall, age-standardized mean levels for the factors considered are as follows (men and women, respectively): total cholesterol (TC) (mg/dl) 204 and 196; LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) (mg/dl) 131 and 125; apolipoprotein B (ApoB) (mg/dl) (five out of six areas) 112 and 104; HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) (mg/dl) 48 and 53; triglyceride (TG) (mg/dl) 117 and 89; systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 129 and 128; diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 81 and 80; body mass index (BMI) [kg/(m)2] 26 and 25; prevalence of smokers (%) 48 and 15; cigarettes per day among smokers 19 and 11. A regular increase with increasing age exists for TC, LDL-C, ApoB, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and BMI. Compared to the results of a previous survey eight years earlier, an unfavorable trend is in progress, particularly for TC levels in both sexes and smoking among women.