• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 2017

Shift workers experience a disruption in the circadian sleep-wake rhythm, which brings upon adverse health effects such as fatigue, insomnia and decreased sleep quality. Moreover, shift work has deleterious effects on both work productivity and safety. In this review, we present a brief overview of the current literature on the consequences of shift work, especially focusing on attention-associated cognitive decline and related behavioral changes. We searched two electronic databases, PubMed and RISS, using key search terms related to cognitive domains, deleterious effects, and shift work. Twenty studies were eligible for the final review. The consequences of shift work can be classified into the following three categories extracted from the literature review : 1) work accidents ; 2) commuting accidents such as car accidents that occur on the way to and from work ; and 3) attendance management at work (i.e., absenteeism, tardiness, and unscheduled early departure). These cognitive and behavioral consequences of shift work were also found to be associated with sleep disorders in shift workers. Thus, improvements in the shift work system are necessary in order to enhance workers' health conditions, work productivity, and safety.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.615-627
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to examine the eating habits and nutrient intake of industrial workers who work day and night shifts. In the area of percentage of skipped meals, the day shift workers responded that they usually skipped breakfast and the night shift workers often skipped lunch and dinner. The day shift workers answered that they skipped meals because of lack of time. The night shift workers cited poor appetite as their main reason for skipping meals. The intake of calories, Vitamin $B_2$ and calcium of the industrial workers who worked day and night shift was lower than the Korean RDA. The intake of iron of the male night shift workers was lower than the Korean RDA The intake of calories, protein, calcium, iron, Vitamin $B_2$and niacin, vitamin C of the female night shift workers was lower than the Korean RDA. In the area of nutrient intake, the night shift workers both male and female got lower scales than the day shift workers. The nutrient intake of the female night shift workers was the worst. Because they cook for themselves and live alone, their nutrient intake and eating habits were bad. The night shift workers were worse than the day shift workers and the female night shift workers were the worst. Considering the above results, night shift workers should correct their poor eating habits, their nutrient intake and have a well-balanced diet.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.190-199
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in sleep, fatigue, and neurocognitive function between shift nurses and non-shift nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. A total of 100 nurses participated in the study. 50 were shift nurses and the remaining 50 were non-shift nurses. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Fatigue Severity Scale, and a computerized neurocognitive function test (CNS Vital Signs-VS4) were administered to the subjects to assess verbal and visual memory, processing speed, reaction time, and simple attention. After the last night shift, the shift nurse conducted the study at around 8:00 am and the non-shift nurse participated after work. Results: Compared to non-shift nurses, shift nurses had a significantly lower sleep quality (p=.002) and higher fatigue (p=.001) and achieved significantly lower scores on verbal memory (p=.001), processing speed (p=.003), and reaction time (p=.018). There were significant correlations between sleep quality and processing speed (p=.042), and reaction time (p=.015) of shift nurses who were bad sleepers. Conclusion: This study findings suggest shift work could interfere with cognitive function. Personal and organizational programs should be developed to support their sleep and neurocognitive function.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify associations among the sleep disturbance, fatigue, job stress, and blood and body fluid (BBF) exposure of shift-work nurses. Methods: A total of 299 shift-work nurses from two tertiary hospitals were enrolled in this study. We used the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form (KOSS-SF) to evaluate sleep disturbance, fatigue, and job stress, respectively. The data were analyzed using t-test or chi-squared test and Logistic regression analysis using the SPSS 23.0 program. Results: We found that 43.8% of participants reported BBF exposure over the past year. Splash or exposure to broken skin of BBF were most frequent (56.9%), and followed by needlestick injuries (30.4%) and sharp injuries (12.8%). Age, hospital, working period, level of stress, sleep disturbance ($ISI{\geq}15$), fatigue (FSS $score{\geq}4$), job demand and organizational climate subset in KOSS-SF were significantly associated with BBF exposure in shift-work nurses. In multivariate analysis after adjusting age and hospital, the risk factors of BBF exposure in shift-work nurses were the level of stress and fatigue (FSS $score{\geq}4$). Conclusion: Fatigue and job stress were related to BBF exposure in shift-work nurses. Our results suggest that management of sleep disturbance, fatigue, and high job stress in shift-work nurses is needed to reduce risk of BBF exposure.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the effect of shift work on diurnal blood pressure (BP) pattern in nurses. Method: We studied 20 healthy nurses engaged in 3 shift work. 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring was performed to each nurse two times during the day and night shift. Five nurses were excluded because of inadequate BP measurement. Results: All subjects were female. The mean age was 27.4 years (range: 23-33 years) and mean body mass index was 19.7 Kg/$m^2$ (range: 18.0-21.2 Kg/$m^2$). The changes of systolic BP ($17.8{\pm}9.1$ vs. $13.2{\pm}4.7%$, p=0.031), diastolic BP ($22.3{\pm}8.7$ vs. $17.3{\pm}9.0%$, p=0.061), and heart rate ($25.2{\pm}5.2$ vs. $12.5{\pm}8.7%$, p=0.001) during the sleeping period were decreased after a night shift compared with day shift. The non-dipper group significantly increased from 20% to 40% after a night shift (p=0.018). Conclusion: Working night shift is significantly associated with non-dipper status in nurses.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.62-73
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• 2022

This study investigates the working conditions of shift workers according to age group by analyzing the sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey's data. A total of 1,323 shift workers were extracted from the dataset. Three age groups (A: 20s-30s, B: 40s-50s, C: 60s and above) were statistically compared in terms of health problems, emotional hazard exposure, work-life imbalance, and satisfaction with working conditions. Elderly shift workers (those in their 60s and above) had significantly more severe health problems and work-life imbalance, greater exposure to emotional hazards, and lower satisfaction with working conditions than young shift workers (those in their 20s-50s). The study's findings reveal the characteristics of working conditions for elderly shift workers and would be useful for improving shift workers' quality of life, as well as safety and productivity in the workplace.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.252-257
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the associations of sleep, dietary behaviors and physical activity with quality of life among shift-work nurses. Methods: For this cross-sectional descriptive study, data were collected from 191 shift-work nurses in a tertiary hospital. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the relationships among variables. Results: The levels of sleep quality, dietary behaviors and physical activity were low. Factors associated with quality of life among shift-work nurses included sleep disturbance (B=-0.16, ${\beta}=-0.26$, p<.001), dietary behaviors (B=0.28, ${\beta}=0.24$, p<.001), and physical activity (B=0.05, ${\beta}=0.19$, p<.001). The strongest factor was sleep disturbance. Conclusion: In order to improve quality of life among shift-work nurses, it is significant to encourage and maintain health behaviors such as sleep, dietary behaviors and physical activity. Under the circumstances where shift-work cannot be avoided, personal efforts made by nurses to establish their own living standards for positive health behaviors will benefit their quality of life.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.73-80
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• 2016

This study highlights the main effect of job demand, work shift, work environment and stressors on the railway traffic controller's health, and the moderating effect of work0life balance. The result of empirical analysis based on questionnaires received from 328 traffic controllers working at 10 railway operating companies indicates that job demand, work shift, work environment and stressors have significant effect on their health, among which stressors is a major factor. In the respect of moderating effect, WLB showed no significance except for job demand. This result implies that controller's health can not be enhanced through their individual family or leisure life. Therefore, effective countermeasures and policy to mitigate their health problems and heal their symptoms are urgent.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.517-529
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• 2019

Introduction: Although shift work is an inevitable form of labor in modern society, it has been identified as a cause of many ailments, such as cancer and musculoskeletal disorders. Meanwhile, previous studies have also shown that musculoskeletal disorders account for a large proportion of total industrial accidents and a high prevalence rate of these ailments has been found in shift workers. Methods: Among the respondents to the 5th Korea Working Conditions Survey(KWCS) 3,916 shift workers(2,658 of whom have not experienced musculoskeletal pain and 1,258 who have experienced musculoskeletal pain) were asked how the work regularity of shift workers affected musculoskeletal pain. Results: The results of a dichotomous logistic regression by correcting the demographic characteristics of the study subjects showed a lower prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the 'High' regularity group compared to the 'Intermediate' regularity group for the criterion 'Regularity of Time Fixation'. A lower prevalence of musculoskeletal pain was shown in the 'High' and 'Moderate' regularity group compared to the 'Very Low' regularity one. Conclusions: Based on these findings, it was found that musculoskeletal pain occurs less when the work regularity of shift workers is 'Very high' or 'Intermediate', and the effect of working regularity on musculoskeletal pain varies for each shift type of work. It is deemed that more precise observation and understanding are required when managing the working environment of shift workers, and further study of regarding this issue is needed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.367-371
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• 2020

We evaluated the eating pattern, physical activity, and daytime sleepiness level in Chilean shift workers. Fifty, middle-aged adult health workers from a public hospital in Santiago, Chile, were included: a group undergoing shift work (shift workers, including at least one "night shift" and one "long day", n = 33), and day workers under traditional schedule (from 8:00 to 17:00h, n = 17). Body composition, physical activity, and daytime sleepiness levels, and diet characteristics (diet composition, meals' timing, and diet quality) were assessed. Despite similar total energy intake, shift worker showed lower carbohydrate (% of energy) and higher protein intake (both P < 0.01), decreased diet quality, an irregular eating pattern, and delayed meal timing (all P < 0.05). Physical activity and daytime sleepiness levels did not differ between groups. Findings from this first Chilean study in healthcare shift workers support the fact that meal timing and diet quality appear as critical factors for upcoming intervention studies in this group.