PDF icon Download PDF
Open Access
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2024; 17(01): e64-e74
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1776743
Original Article

Evaluation of the Association between Medication Use and Sleep Quality among Shift Workers versus Day Workers

Magda Margarida Granadeiro Rosado 
1   Cardiology Department, Hospital Espírito Santo EPE, Évora, Portugal
,
Lucinda Sofia Carvalho
2   Interdisciplinary Research Unit on Building Functional Ageing Communities (AGE.COMM), Escola Superior de Saúde Dr. Lopes Dias, Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, Portugal
,
André Coelho
3   Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa (ESTeSL), Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
› Author Affiliations
Funding The authors declare that they have received no funding from agencies in the public, private or non-profits sectors for the conduction of the present study.
› Further Information
Also available ateRef
  Permissions and Reprints
Preview

Abstract

Objective Different factors, such as medication use and shift work, can influence sleep quality. We aimed to determine the association between medication use and sleep quality in shift workers versus daytime workers.

Materials and Methods We conducted a quantitative cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of active workers. Online questionnaires were applied to assess sleep quality, sleepiness, medication use, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Results A total of 296 participants were included: 124 (41.89%) daytime workers and 172 (58.11%) shift workers. In total, 130 (43.92%) participants worked in the healthcare sector, 116 (39.19%), in industry, and 50 (16.89%), in other sectors. After a bivariate analysis, poor sleep quality was associated with the presence of sleep disorders (p < 0.001), type of work (shift or day work) (p < 0.001), and the use of sleeping medication (p < 0.001). Although shift workers had worse sleep quality, no differences were found regarding the use of medications that act directly on the central nervous system or with proven effects on sleep. No association was found between medication use and sleep quality. When adjusted for the different variables that were individually associated with poor sleep quality, through a logistic regression model, none showed an increased risk of poor sleep quality.

Discussion In spite of the need for further research, our results have shown that sleep quality is influenced by many different factors whose impact must be evaluated in combination, and not just in a bivariate manner. There are many factors individually associated with poor sleep quality, but when adjusted to each other, they have shown no increased risk of having poor sleep quality.

Keywords

sleep quality - sleep disorders - shift work - medication use


Publication History

Received: 31 October 2022

Accepted: 31 May 2023

Article published online:
26 March 2024

© 2024. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua do Matoso 170, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20270-135, Brazil