Changes in heart rate variability during working and non-working nights (original) (raw)
Related papers
The aim of this study was to compare levels and patterns of heart rate variability during working night shifts and the same period of non-working nights. Eight nurses from the Surgical Department of Zadar Hospital, aged 25-33, participated in this study. The study included continuous recordings of cardiac activity during 10 hours of night-shift working (9.00 pm – 7.00 am) and during the equivalent non-working night periods. As expected, the analyses showed differences in the levels of cardiac activity between working and non-working nights. Non-working nights were characterised by longer R-R intervals, higher variability indices and greater parasympathetic effects on cardiac activity, while their patterns of changes and spectral compositions were rather similar to those obtained during working nights. The obtained results showed the supremacy of the circadian pattern of changes, i.e. parasympathetic prevalence, during both working and non-working nights. Parasympathetic prevalence d...
Circadian heart rate variability rhythm in shift workers
Journal of Electrocardiology, 1997
The objective of this study was to assess the influence of day-night cycle and sleep-awake period on the circadian pattern of heart rate variability (HRV). Twelve male oil refinery security shift workers, aged 39 _+ 7 years, 'were studied with 24-hour Holter monitor recordings during morning and :night work periods. Hourly HRV parameters in the time and frequency domains were evaluated. For both shifts, all HRV parameters during awake or work periods were found not to be statistically different. In both day and night work shifts, the very low frequency and high-frequency components of HRV and the proportion of differences in successive R-R intervals greater than 50 ms increased during the sleep period, while the low frequency/high frequency ratio decreased. The low-frequency component in absolute units and the SD of the R-R interval did not show any variation in either shifts for the different periods. These results suggest that the circadian pattern of HRV seems to be predominantly related to sleep (supine) and wakefulness (standing) and remains independent of night-day cycle. Key words: circadian rhythm, heart rate variability, shift workers, autonomic nervous system.
Romanian Journal of Occupational Medicine, 2019
In many large cohort studies, the night shift constitutes a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes in workers. Current screening tests for people working in night shift include fasting glycaemia and electrocardiography. In fact, there are few studies focused on the description of the electrocardiographic changes after the night shift. This article describes the protocol of the “ECG modifications induced by the disturbance of the circadian rhythm in night-shift workers (ECGNoct)” study, which was initiated by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases “Prof. Dr. Matei Balș”. Nurses represent the target population. The protocol includes a full medical and occupational history, lifestyle habits (smoking, alcohol, nutrition), anthropometric and blood pressure measurements, blood tests (fasting glycemia, total cholesterol, triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol) and electrocardiogram recording. For nurses working in (night) shifts, we will reco...
Clinical Nursing Studies, 2015
Introduction: Shift work is one of the most serious occupational risk factors for health problems such as cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, shift work disturbs sleep and alertness and impairs recovery from work, especially if the time between work shifts is insufficient. The aim of this study was to evaluate if a reduced number of short intervals (i.e., less than 11 hours) between work-shifts would result in better recovery indicated by sleep time heart rate variability reflecting the psychophysiological recovery. Methods: Participants were 39 female shift-working nurses with the mean age of 45 years. The study design was a prospective within-subject study with a one year follow-up. The 24-hour heart rate variability recordings supplemented with questionnaires were performed twice. First, while working in the old shift schedule with frequent short intervals between work shifts, and again after one year of a working schedule with a reduced number of short intervals between work shifts. Statistical analyses were conducted using liner mixed models. Results: The comparison between the initial shift system and the schedule with the reduced number of short intervals between work shifts caused an increase in heart rate variability parameters reflecting mainly parasympathetic activation of the autonomic nervous system (i.e., RMSSD, HF power and HF power in normalized units) (p < .001). Conclusions: In conclusion, our results suggest that reducing the number of short intervals between work shifts is an effective way to enhance the physiological recovery during the sleep. This study demonstrated that the recovery of autonomic nervous system from shift work can be promoted by implementation of ergonomic recommendations.
Shift Work and Heart Rate Variability Coherence: Pilot Study Among Nurses
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
This study used ambient heart rate monitoring among health care workers to determine whether a novel measure of heart rate variability (HRV), as well as sleep disturbances, fatigue, or cognitive performance differed among non-rotating night shift nurses relative to those working permanent day shifts. Continuous ambulatory HRV monitoring was performed among night nurses (n = 11), and a comparison group of permanent day nurses (n = 7), over a 36-h period coinciding with the last two 12-h shifts of each participant's work week. Symptoms and psychomotor vigilance were assessed at the end of the ambient HRV monitoring period, and no differences between shifts were observed. Day nurses exhibited an increase in hourly mean HRV coherence ratios during their sleep period, suggesting a circadian pattern of cardiorespiratory phase coupling, whereas night nurses had no increase in HRV coherence ratios during their sleep period. The HRV coherence patterns were similar to high frequency HRV power among nurses on the same shift. To the authors knowledge, this study was the first to quantify patterns of the HRV coherence ratio among shiftworkers in a non-experimental (work/home) setting. The results suggest a pattern of autonomic dysregulation among night workers during their sleep period relative to those working day shifts. The HRV coherence ratio may serve as a novel indicator of HRV dysregulation among shift workers.
Circadian variation of heart rate variability among welders
Occupational and environmental medicine, 2010
To compare the circadian variation of hourly heart rate variability (HRV) on work and non-workdays among boilermaker construction workers. A panel study of 18 males monitored by 24-h ambulatory ECG over 44 observation-days on paired work and non-workdays was conducted. ECGs were analysed and the SD of normal-to-normal beats index (SDNN(i)) was calculated from 5-min data and summarised hourly. SDNN(i)s over work and non-workdays were compared using linear mixed-effects models to account for repeated measures and harmonic regression to account for circadian variation. Both work and non-work hourly HRV exhibited circadian variation with an increase in the evening and a decrease in the afternoon. SDNN(i) was lower on workdays as compared with non-workdays with the largest, statistically significant differences observed between 10:00 and 16:00, during active working. Lower SDNN(i), albeit smaller yet statistically significant differences, was also observed in the evening hours following ...
Heart rate variability changes in physicians working on night call
International archives of occupational and environmental health, 2011
Purpose Adverse effects by night-call duty have become an important occupational health issue. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the heart rate variability (HRV) differed during recovery from day work and night-call duty between distinct physician specialities. Methods We studied the impact of a 16-h night-call duty on autonomic balance, measured by HRV, among two physician groups differing with respect to having to deal with life-threatening conditions while on call. Nineteen anaesthesiologists (ANEST) and 16 paediatricians and ear, nose and throat surgeons (PENT) were monitored by ambulatory digital Holter electrocardiogram (ECG). Heart rate variability was analysed between 21:00 and 22:00 after an ordinary workday, on night call and in the evening post-call. Absolute and normalized high-frequency power (HF, HFnu) were the main outcome variables, expressing parasympathetic influence on the heart. Results ANEST had lower HF power than PENT while on night call and post-daytime work (p < 0.05), but not at post-night call. In the whole group of physicians, HFnu was lower on call and post-daytime work compared with post-night-call duty (p < 0.05). Conclusions The physiological recovery after night duty seemed sufficient in terms of HRV patterns for HFnu, reflecting autonomic balance and did not differ between specialities. However, the less dynamic HRV after daytime work and during night-call duty in the ANEST group may indicate a higher physiological stress level. These results may contribute to the improvement of night-call schedules within the health care sector.