Night shifts are notorious for disrupting circadian rhythms and increasing health risks, including weight gain and metabolic disorders. But an important study of female night nurses (Silva-Costa et al., 2017) revealed an encouraging insight:
For industries where shift work is unavoidable—such as healthcare, emergency services, and aviation—encouraging and enabling napping could be a key strategy for supporting long-term employee health.
It’s often said that “you can’t make up for lost sleep,” but new data challenges this claim. Presented at the European Society for Cardiology Congress 2024, Song et al analysed data from 90,903 participants in the UK Biobank study, identifying 19,816 individuals as sleep deprived. Over 14 years of follow-up with this cohort, the findings were striking:
Prof Song commented that “Sufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease. The association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays.”
These findings are interesting as researchers from Harvard and Monash universities have recently suggested that it is consistent sleep that is most beneficial and reported that consistent sleepers had a lower risk of death.
This underscores a powerful message: while consistent, high-quality sleep is ideal, recovery sleep on days off can still offer meaningful health benefits. For shift workers or those with demanding schedules, using weekends or rest days to sleep longer is not just restorative—it could also be lifesaving.
Another interesting study highlights how our chronotype—our natural preference for mornings or evenings—affects cardiovascular health. Frisk et al. (2024) examined 771 adults aged 50–64, using computed tomography to measure arterial calcification, a key indicator of cardiovascular disease risk.
Studies have reported that Evening chronotypes were also more likely to engage in behaviours like smoking and alcohol consumption, which further compound cardiovascular risks. Combined with the known challenges night owls face in aligning with traditional work schedules, this evidence highlights the importance of circadian alignment and tailored lifestyle interventions.
Sleep deprivation does more than make us feel tired—it affects our emotional wellbeing. An extensive meta-analysis conducted by Palmer et al in the American Psychological Association (APA) synthesizing over 50 years of research highlights the widespread emotional consequences of sleep loss. 154 studies were analysed over five decades with 5,715 participants, considering the emotional toll of inadequate rest.
Key Findings on Emotional Impact
Across all conditions of sleep deprivation, the results were consistent:
These outcomes were observed under conditions such as extended wakefulness, shorter sleep durations, or fragmented sleep, demonstrating the widespread impact of sleep deprivation on emotional health. For professionals managing fatigue in safety-critical roles, this highlights the importance of prioritising rest—not only for physical recovery but also for maintaining emotional resilience and effective decision-making.
While the research paints a concerning picture of how fatigue and sleep loss affect health, it also offers actionable insights:
Enable On-Shift Napping: Industries reliant on shift work should incorporate short, strategic naps into schedules wherever possible to improve both performance and long-term health.
Prioritise Weekend Sleep Recovery: If weekdays limit sleep, take advantage of weekends or days off to recover. A few extra hours of sleep can make a significant difference, particularly for heart health.
Support Night Owls: For individuals with evening chronotypes, consider lifestyle changes such as:
Educate and Empower: Understanding the link between sleep, fatigue, and health can drive cultural and policy changes, encouraging both employers and individuals to prioritize rest as a pillar of wellbeing.
Fatigue is not just a personal issue—it’s a systemic challenge affecting productivity, safety, and healthcare systems worldwide. The good news is that science continues to uncover strategies we can use to mitigate these risks. Whether through napping policies, recovery sleep, or personalized interventions, we have the tools to counteract some of the adverse effects of sleep deprivation and circadian misalignment.
FRMSc provides training, consultancy and biomathematical fatigue models across many safety critical industries. To find out more about FRMSc or to book a meeting with us, visit https://www.frmsc.com/contact/
In the fast-paced world of health and social care, managing fatigue is crucial for the safety and wellbeing of our workforce. Fatigue not only increases error rates in patient care but also jeopardises post-shift driving safety and decision-making.
Effective fatigue management techniques in aviation can serve as a valuable model for maintaining vigilance and ensuring patient safety in healthcare. By collaborating and communicating efficiently, we can proactively mitigate errors and raise caregiving standards with confidence.
Is there a difference between fatigue and tiredness or are they different terms used to describe the same thing?
