I think we can all agree that nightshifts are hard on ones sleep routine. Just how badly is the sleep routine affected?

This study aimed to examine the recovery process of those who work consecutive nights and the fatigue induced by four simulated consecutive nightshifts. The sample was composed of 10 men who attended a sleep laboratory for nine consecutive nights. Each of the nights at the lab simulated different conditions including one day-shift sleep to establish a baseline followed by four simulated nightshifts and daytime sleep.

There were six cases of poor recuperative sleep observed. Three trends of individual sleep patterns were noted during the study: increased sleep latencies, frequent awakenings during the night and early morning awakenings.

The study reveals that consecutive nightshift work may be a cause of sleep disturbances.

Recovery Process of Sleep Patterns after Four Consecutive Nightshifts by Tomohide Kubo, Norihide Tachi, Hidemaro Takeyama, Takeshi Ebara, Tatstuki Inoue, Toshimasa Takanishi, Yuko Arakomo, Gen-I Murasaki, and Toru Itani was presented at Sleep 2007, the 21st annual meeting of the Association Professional Sleep Professionals Societies, LLC.