Improved Sleep Hygiene and Psychomotor Vigilance Performance Following Crew Shift to a Circadian-based Watch Schedule
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Authors
Brown, Stephanie
Matsangas, Panagiotis
Shattuck, Nita Lewis
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2015
Date
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Abstract
In the military, any degradation in performance may have serious implications, potentially resulting in
loss of life or affecting mission accomplishment. The maritime environment imposes the additional unique
challenges of waterborne motion on the shipboard crew. Additionally, the U.S. Navy’s 24/7 operational
requirements mandate rigorous equipment monitoring and shiftwork. This study assesses how crewmember
sleep hygiene and psychomotor vigilance performance is affected by a shift from traditional work
schedules to an alternative circadian-based schedule. Twenty-eight sailors were assessed while working
two watch schedules, a conventional 5-hours on/10-hours off (5/10) rapidly rotating schedule, and an
alternative 3-hours on/9-hours off (3/9) fixed schedule. Average daily sleep duration was the same for both
watch schedules. However, compared to their scores on the 5/10, sailors on the 3/9 had significantly less
daytime sleepiness, improved mood, 30% faster reaction times, and had 40% to 50% fewer errors (i.e.,
lapses combined with false starts). The significant improvements in performance, mood, and sleep hygiene
observed in this within-subjects study suggest that circadian watch schedules should be chosen rather than
non-circadian aligned schedules.
Type
Article
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Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
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Format
5 p.
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.