Non‐pharmacological interventions for sleepiness at work and sleep disturbances caused by shift work
Citation: Slanger TE, Gross JV, Pinger A, et al. Person‐directed, non‐pharmacological interventions for sleepiness at work and sleep disturbances caused by shift work. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016;(8):CD010641.
What is this? The COVID-19 pandemic is placing a strain on healthcare and other workers. Existing research on interventions to help with sleep and fatigue might provide helpful information for policy makers.
In this Cochrane review, the authors searched for randomized trials of person-directed non-pharmacological interventions for reducing sleepiness at work and improving the length and quality of sleep between shifts for shift workers. They did not restrict their searches by language or date of publication and did the search in August 2015. They included 17 trials (total: 556 participants) and identified 1 ongoing studies and an additional 11 studies that are awaiting assessment. They assessed the quality of the evidence as low to very low.
What works: Nothing noted.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What’s uncertain: The effects of non-pharmacological interventions (such as exposure to bright light, napping, physical exercise or sleep education) on quality of sleep between shifts and sleepiness among shift workers are uncertain.