Experimental Studies of Shift-Work I: A Comparison of ‘ Rotating ’ and ‘ Stabilized ’ 4-hour Shift Systems

Abstract

Efficiency at ‘ mental ’ tasks was observed when performed according to a time schedule imposed by following one of two different 4-hour shift systems for a period of 12 consecutive days. Twenty-eight subjects were assigned either to a ‘ rotating ’ system, in which each 4-hour period of the 24 hours was worked once every 72 hours in a repeating cycle, or to a ‘ stabilized ’ system, in which the work periods were from 1230 to 1630 and 2400-0400 each day. In the rotating system, alterations in the level of several aspects of performance at different times of day were found to be related quite closely to concurrent fluctuations in body temperature arising from its natural circadian rhythm. A shift in the phase of this rhythm in response to the now sleep/waking cycle imposed by the stabilized system was accompanied by a corresponding change in the relative levels of performance observed in the two work periods. Thus in both systems body temperature was, in effect, a predictor of performance efficiency. Some implications for the organization of shift working are discussed

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