The Relationship Between Sleep Disorders and Quality of Life in Rotating Shift Workers at a Textile Factory

Background: Thereisnodoubtthatproblemsduringwakefulnesscanaffectthequalityandlengthof sleep. Sleepdisturbancescan haveaseriousnegativeeffectonaperson’sability,function,andoverallwell-being. Oneof themostimportantissuesthatcanresult insleepdisturbancesisprofessionalcauses,andthemostimportantof whichisshiftwork. Thepresentstudyaimedatinvestigating the association between shift work and various sleep disorders and quality of life. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The data were collected using the Persian version of Epworth sleepiness scale andSF-36 questionnaires to assess the participants’ sleep disorder and quality of life. The questionnaires were filled in by 207 shift workers. Age, gender, shift works experience, and working experience were recorded for all participants. Results: In total, 45 (21.7%) out of 207 participants were male and 162 (78.3%) were female. The mean ± SD age of participants was 25.71 ± 4.38 years. The mean ± SD shift works experience and working experience were 3.76 ± 3.75 and 4.68 ± 3.92, respectively. Females were more at risk for sleep problems caused by shift work than males (P = 0.006). The prevalence of problems in initiating sleep,frequentwakingfromsleep,andearlymorningawakeningwasmorecommonamongshiftworkers,respectively. Asignificant negative correlation was found between quality of life and Epworth sleep score, meaning that with the increase in Epworth Sleep Score the quality of life was reduced, and the quality of life was improved by reduction in Epworth sleep score (r = - 0.5, P = 0.001). Conclusions: Higher prevalence of insomnia and poor sleep quality among shift workers and the subsequent reduction in their quality of life based on in this study emphasizes the importance of paying serious attention to sleep disorders in shift workers.