Psychological Effects of Working Night Shifts on Mental Health

Abstract

Introduction

The medical and scientific communities are continually reporting that night work can increase the risk of certain disorders and have a negative impact on the overall well-being of employees.

Objectives

This study wanted to examine the impact of night work on physical and psychological well-being of hospital staff.

Methods

We carried out a cross-sectional study about a representative sample of hospital staff. We used validated self-reporting instruments: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Subjective Well-being Scale (SWS). Data were analyzed using SPSS-20.

Results

Our study concerned 519 hospital staffs. More than half were male (53%) and 83.1% had worked in the same position for more than two years. More than half of the participants (51. 3%) considered themselves in very good health. Also 41.5% of participants had a well-being index reduced and 26% of personal had high perceived stress. Correlation analysis had shown that more than one guard at week was associated with high levels of perceived stress (P = 0.004) and well-being index reduced (P = 0.000). After adjusting for categories, more than one shift work at week was associated to well-being index reduced with odds ratios of 1.57 (confidence interval 95% [1.07 to 2.30]).

Conclusion

There is a clear correlation between night work, perceived stress and subjective well-being of different categories of hospital staff. Shift work interferences on health and well-being are complex and multifaceted in their origins and time manifestations, dealing with several aspects of personal characteristics, and working and living conditions.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.