Sleep Reduction in Night-Shift Workers: Is it Sleep Deprivation or a Sleep Disturbance Disorder?

Two explanations of the reported reduction in night-shift workers' sleep length have emerged. One argues that these reductions in sleep are related to sleep disturbances which may require medical treatment as disorders. The other argues that sleep reduction is mainly due to a sleep deficit caused by the voluntary choice to delay sleep onset and reduce the sleep duration which requires a systems approach aimed at increasing sleep length and reducing the effect of a sleep deficit at the workplace. Using survey data from 1078 industrial shift workers, this study demonstrates that permanent night workers reporting sleep difficulties, as well as those who do not, report sleep reductions. This finding is interpreted as supporting, in part, the position that night-shift workers suffer primarily from a self-induced sleep deficit.