Sleep-wake behavior of shift workers using wrist actigraph

Abstract

The sleep-wake behavior and the effects of aging on the tolerance of night shift were investigated using wrist actigraph for 12 Korean male workers of a continuous full-day three-team three-shift system. The wrist actigraph data were obtained for about 21 days (1 shift cycle) for each subject. During night duty, total sleep time decreased, the number of naps and nap length during on-duty or off-duty periods increased, and the level of activity decreased with increasing age. These results suggest that the tolerance to night shift becomes weaker with increasing age.