Associations of the trend of changes in sleepiness and physiologic changes in night shift rehabilitation health care workers

Background & Objective: Sleepiness and the trend of changes of vital signs are important factors affecting the quality of work of hospital staff. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleepiness with physiological changes and vital signs in night shift workers in rehabilitation staff. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study, performed on night shift personnel of Rafideh Hospital of Tehran in 2018. A questionnaire including demographic information and Stanford Sleepiness Scale were used for data collection. The results were analyzed using repeated measures analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21. Results: The mean age of participants was 38.23 (5.96). There were 33 males (64.7%) and 18 females (35.3%). The majority of the personnel were married (72.5%) and non-smoker (82.4%). The amount of sleepiness increased significantly with increasing time. Demographic characteristics had no significant association with sleepiness. However, there was a significant negative association between sleepiness and heart rate and oral temperature. Blood pressure showed a decreasing trend with increasing time until midnight. Although, there was an increase in blood pressure at 2 am. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that sleepiness might have a significant association with vital signs in night work personnel. Hence, proper planning of shift work schedules and compatible with physiological conditions might result in better working conditions in medical staff.