Poor sleep in particular affects night workers, according to research by RIVM researcher Bette Loef, who obtained her PhD on this subject yesterday.
During the study, about 600 healthcare workers kept a daily app for six months to determine whether they suffered from flu or respiratory complaints. This was more often the case with night workers. They should be better protected from the negative effects of their working hours, Loef says.
Protect night workers well
This is especially important in the corona crisis. Healthcare workers have to work harder than ever and are also at risk of coming into contact with the corona virus at work.
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Although Loef’s research was conducted before the corona outbreak, Loef says there are certainly parallels between corona and the complaints investigated, such as fever and cold.
“It is now very important to properly protect night workers,” says Loef. “I mean not only physically, with masks and the like, but also in their own health. They must be given enough time to recover and rest. And it is important that they can sleep well and stay healthy.”
Less rested
The study also looked at the sleep, eating and exercise patterns of the employees.
Bette Loef: “We saw among people who work night shifts that the perceived quality of their sleep is a lot worse. They therefore feel less rested, while on average they do not sleep less.”
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This is also because the sleep pattern of night workers is different, says the researcher: “For example, if someone has a week with many night shifts, there is a sleep deprivation. People try to compensate for this by sleeping extra before or after that week. regular sleep patterns are better for your body. “
Eating at rest
Surprisingly, night workers do not eat very differently from people who work during the day. “We had expected that people would eat unhealthy food more often on a night shift, but we actually see little difference,” Loef explains. “The timing of the food is probably a more important factor: if you eat at night when your body is actually in a resting state, it is more difficult to process that food.”
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Those abnormal sleeping and eating patterns may have a major effect on your body, making you more susceptible to infections. Loef: “It is known that night work can cause cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and sleeping problems. This research shows that this may also apply to infectious diseases such as the flu.”
Night work schedule is never healthy
So more account should be taken of the health of night workers, Loef believes. “A schedule with night work is never healthy, but you can try to limit the negative effects of night work. For example, by ensuring enough rest between shifts and by not working too many night shifts consecutively.”
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