Sustained work, fatigue, sleep loss and performance: A review of the issues

Abstract The physiological and psychological stressors associated with sustained work, fatigue, and sleep loss affect worker performance. This review describes findings relating to sustained work stresses commonly found in our advancing technological world. Researchers report decrements in sustained performance as a function of fatigue, especially during and following one or more nights of complete sleep loss, or longer periods of reduced or fragmented sleep. Sleep loss appears to result in reduced reaction time, decreased vigilance, perceptual and cognitive distortions, and changes in affect. Sleep loss and workload interact with circadian rhythms in producing their effects. These interactions are a major source of stress in work situations requiring sustained work in continuous operations and have implications for theoretical models of sustained perceptual and cognitive functioning.

[1]  G. Patrick,et al.  Studies from the psychological laboratory of the University of Iowa: On the effects of loss of sleep , 1896 .

[2]  A. G. Bills.  Blocking: a new principle of mental fatigue. , 1931 .

[3]  N. Kleitman,et al.  SLEEP AND WAKEFULNESS , 1940 .

[4]  N. Kleitman,et al.  Body temperature and performance under different routines. , 1950, Journal of applied physiology.

[5]  H. L. Williams,et al.  Impaired performance with acute sleep loss. , 1959 .

[6]  Changing Industry , 1959, Nature.

[7]  S. Howard Bartley,et al.  Fatigue Mechanism and Management , 1965 .

[8]  I D Brown,et al.  A comparison of two subsidiary tasks used to measure fatigue in car drivers. , 1965, Ergonomics.

[9]  R Trumbull,et al.  Diurnal Cycles and Work-Rest Scheduling in Unusual Environments1 , 1966, Human factors.

[10]  I D Brown,et al.  Measurement of control skills, vigilance, and performance on a subsidiary task during 12 hours of car driving. , 1967, Ergonomics.

[11]  E Grandjean,et al.  Fatigue: its physiological and psychological significance. , 1968, Ergonomics.

[12]  Wilse B. Webb,et al.  Sleep : an experimental approach , 1968 .

[13]  E. Grandjean,et al.  The Ergonomics Research Society: The Society's Lecture 1968: Given at the University of Sussex on 27th March. , 1968 .

[14]  W P Colquhoun,et al.  Experimental studies of shift-work I: A comparison of 'rotating' and 'stabilized' 4-hour shift systems. , 1968, Ergonomics.

[15]  W D Chiles,et al.  Work Schedules and Performance During Confinement1 , 1968, Human factors.

[16]  W P Colquhoun,et al.  Experimental studies of shift-work. 3. Stabilized 12-hour shift system. , 1968, Ergonomics.

[17]  Eugene H. Drucker,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION ON PERFORMANCE OVER A 48-HOUR PERIOD , 1969 .

[18]  V S Ellingstad,et al.  Performance changes during the sustained operation of a complex psychomotor task. , 1970, Ergonomics.

[19]  James H Banks,et al.  Effects of Continuous Military Operations on Selected Military Tasks , 1970 .

[20]  L S Caldwell,et al.  Serial isometric fatigue functions with variable intertrial intervals. , 1971, Journal of motor behavior.

[21]  Carl M. Stroh,et al.  Vigilance : the problem of sustained attention , 1971 .

[22]  L. L. Ainsworth,et al.  The Effects of a 48-Hour Period of Sustained Field Activity on Tank Crew Performance , 1971 .

[23]  Ernst Simonson,et al.  Physiology of work capacity and fatigue , 1971 .

[24]  H. Holloway.  Epidemiology of heroin dependency among soldiers in Vietnam. , 1974, Military medicine.

[25]  B. B. Morgan,et al.  Sleep Loss , 2010 .

[26]  L. Johnson,et al.  Interaction of REM deprivation and stage 4 deprivation with total sleep loss: experiment 2. , 1974, Psychophysiology.

[27]  L R Hartley,et al.  A Comparison of Continuous and Distributed Reduced Sleep Schedules , 1974, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[28]  E. Simonson,et al.  Psychological aspects and physiological correlates of work and fatigue , 1977 .

[29]  R. R. Mackie,et al.  Vigilance: Theory, Operational Performance, and Physiological Correlates , 1978 .

[30]  M. Carskadon,et al.  Effects of Total Sleep Loss on Sleep Tendency , 1979, Perceptual and motor skills.

[31]  Lewis W. Stone,et al.  The Measurement of Man-Helicopter Performance as a Function of Extended Flight Requirements and Aviator Fatigue. , 1979 .

[32]  T. Monk,et al.  Shiftwork and Performance , 1979 .

[33]  Paul Naitoh,et al.  Artillery Teams in Simulated Sustained Combat: Performance and Other Measures , 1980 .

[34]  J. Rutenfranz,et al.  Studies of Shiftwork , 1980 .

[35]  J. O'hanlon,et al.  Boredom: practical consequences and a theory. , 1981, Acta psychologica.

[36]  M. Carskadon,et al.  Cumulative effects of sleep restriction on daytime sleepiness. , 1981, Psychophysiology.

[37]  W. B. Webb.  Biological rhythms, sleep, and performance , 1982 .

[38]  W. B. Webb,et al.  Age, sleep deprivation, and performance. , 1982, Psychophysiology.

[39]  M. Loeb,et al.  The Psychology of Vigilance , 1982 .

[40]  D R Haslam,et al.  Sleep loss, recovery sleep, and military performance. , 1982, Ergonomics.

[41]  P Naitoh,et al.  Restorative power of naps in designing continuous work schedules. , 1982, Journal of human ergology.

[42]  Philippa H. Gander,et al.  Task variables determine which biological clock controls circadian rhythms in human performance , 1983, Nature.

[43]  D. J. Mullaney,et al.  Sleep loss and nap effects on sustained continuous performance. , 1983, Psychophysiology.

[44]  D. Ryman,et al.  Moderate Physical Work Effects on Performance and Mood during Sustained Operations (SUSOPS) , 1983 .

[45]  W P Colquhoun,et al.  The Twenty-four Hour Workday: Proceedings of a Symposium on Variations in Work-Sleep Schedules , 1983 .

[46]  A N Nicholson,et al.  Human Factors and Air Operations in the South Atlantic Campaign: Discussion Paper 1 , 1983, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

[47]  R. Mcmurray,et al.  The effect of sleep loss on high intensity exercise and recovery. , 1984, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[48]  McMurray Rg,et al.  The effect of sleep loss on high intensity exercise and recovery. , 1984 .

[49]  J. Warm.  Sustained attention in human performance , 1984 .

[50]  W. B. Webb,et al.  Effects of spaced and repeated total sleep deprivation. , 1984, Ergonomics.

[51]  P Badia,et al.  Sleep fragmentation and daytime sleepiness. , 1984, Sleep.

[52]  Helen C. Sing,et al.  Dynamic changes in work/rest duty cycles in a study of sleep deprivation , 1985 .

[53]  Diana E. Haslam.  Sustained operations and military performance , 1985 .

[54]  Gerald P. Krueger,et al.  Aviator performance in week-long extended flight operations in a helicopter simulator , 1985 .

[55]  Daniel F. Kripke,et al.  An automated system for administering continuous workload and for measuring sustained continuous performance , 1985 .

[56]  Wilse B. Webb,et al.  Experiments on extended performance: Repetition, age, and limited sleep periods , 1985 .

[57]  D. Haslam.  Sleep deprivation and naps , 1985 .

[58]  R E Janaro,et al.  A Study of the Reduction of Fatigue Impact on Productivity through Optimal Rest Break Scheduling , 1985, Human factors.

[59]  Sanctioned Use of Drugs in Combat , 1985 .

[60]  T. Monk,et al.  Hours of work : temporal factors in work scheduling , 1985 .

[61]  Timothy H. Monk,et al.  Circadian factors during sustained performance: Background and methodology , 1985 .

[62]  Donald I. Tepas,et al.  Changing industry to continuous operations: Different strokes for different plants , 1985 .

[63]  David F. Dinges,et al.  Assessing performance upon abrupt awakening from naps during quasi-continuous operations , 1985 .

[64]  Robert G. Angus,et al.  Effects of sleep loss on sustained cognitive performance during a command and control simulation , 1985 .

[65]  James A. Hodgdon,et al.  Cognitive performance during successive sustained physical work episodes , 1985 .

[66]  L. Kaufman,et al.  Handbook of perception and human performance , 1986 .

[67]  G. Hockey.  Changes in operator efficiency as a function of environmental stress, fatigue, and circadian rhythms. , 1986 .

[68]  Sedating and Nonsedating Sleeping Aids in Air Operations. , 1986 .

[69]  Andrew Rutherford.  Handbook of perception and human performance. Vol 1: Sensory processes and perception. Vol 2: Cognitive processes and performance. , 1987 .

[70]  Paul Naitoh,et al.  Napping and Human Functioning during Prolonged Work , 1987 .

[71]  William F. Storm,et al.  FB-111A Aircrew Use of Temazepam during Surge Operations, , 1987 .

[72]  Gavriel Salvendy,et al.  Handbook of human factors. , 1987 .

[73]  Gregory Belenky,et al.  Effects of Continuous Operations (CONOPS) on Soldier and Unit Performance: Review of the Literature and Strategies for Sustaining the Soldier in CONOPS , 1987 .

[74]  M. Orne,et al.  The benefits of a nap during prolonged work and wakefulness , 1988 .

[75]  T. Balkin,et al.  Effects of Triazolam on Performance and Sleep in a Model of Transient Insomnia , 1988 .

[76]  Gerald P Krueger,et al.  Human Performance in Continuous/Sustained Operations and the Demands of Extended Work/Rest Schedules: An Annotated Bibliography. Volume 2 , 1989 .