Shift Work Disorder

The aim of the study is to evaluate circadian glucose, activity and dietary rhythms, as well as metabolic and cardiovascular risk associated with night shift work, sleep quality and well-being in a cohort of hospital staff, comparing employees with night shifts to employees without night shifts.

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile- and virtual reality-based mindfulness and breathing intervention on stress, burnout, sleep quality, and cognitive function among Rotating-shift nurses. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) health education control group, (2) mobile-based mindfulness only, (3) mobile-based mindfulness combined with brief structured breathing, and (4) virtual reality-assisted mindfulness combined with brief structured breathing. The intervention will last for 8 weeks, with participants practicing 5 times per week for 10 minutes per session. Primary outcomes include perceived stress, burnout levels, sleep quality, and cognitive function.

Night shift work is an essential component of healthcare systems, particularly in intensive care units and emergency departments, where continuous patient monitoring and rapid clinical decision-making are required. However, it is associated with diruption of the circadian rhythm , sleep disturbances, and physiological stress, which may influence lifestyle behaviors, including dietary habits. Previous studies have reported that night work can be associated with changes in meal timing, increased caloric intake, preference for energy-dense foods, and reduced overall diet quality.Despite the growing literature on night work and nutrition, data specifically describing dietary habits among healthcare professionals working night shifts in high-intensity clinical settings remain limited. Intensive care units and emergency departments combine high workload, psychological stress, time constraints, and restricted access to appropriate meals during night hours, all of which may affect eating behaviors. Moreover, whether these dietary patterns are specific to healthcare professionals or primarily related to night work itself remains unclear. This observational, cross-sectional study aims to describe dietary habits among healthcare professionals working night shifts in intensive care units and emergency departments, and to compare these habits with those of night workers from non-healthcare sectors. Data will be collected prospectively through a voluntary, anonymous, self-administered online questionnaire during a defined inclusion period. The questionnaire will explore meal timing, eating patterns, food choices, and constraints perceived as influencing dietary behaviors during night work. By providing a descriptive overview of dietary habits across different categories of night workers, the study seeks to improve understanding of how night work and occupational context influence eating behaviors. The findings may contribute to the development of future preventive strategies and workplace health initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of night shift workers

This study aims to explore dietary factors that influence glycemic control in night shift EMS providers and to test the feasibility of a dietary intervention among these providers.

SUSTAIN (Studying Solriamfetol Modulation of TAAR-1, Dopamine, and Norepinephrine in Shift Work Disorder) is a Phase 3, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel- group trial to assess the efficacy and safety of solriamfetol in adults with excessive sleepiness associated with shift work disorder (SWD).

The purpose of this project is to test sleep reactivity as an independent cause of Shift Work Disorder (SWD). The primary hypothesis is that those with high sleep reactivity will show persistent SWD symptoms after experimental reduction of circadian misalignment, which will then be mitigated with CBT.

Shift work is a well-known risk factor for the development of overweight and obesity, which may lead to downstream effects such as increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases and cancer. However, the biological and behavioral mechanisms underlying the obesogenicity of night shift work are not well understood. Population-based mechanistic studies in real life shift workers are needed to address how night shift work impacts metabolic health. The investigators aim to characterize the behavioural, environmental, and biological mechanisms and pathways for the association of night shift work and obesity across Europe. The investigators will conduct a cross sectional study in 5 European countries (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Poland) and recruit 1000 rotating night shift workers and day workers (200/country) from the health sector and different industries. Night and day workers will be age-frequency (3 age groups), gender and (where possible) working tasks matched. Participants will complete online questionnaires and report their diet habits in a mobile app. Body composition, dietary behavior and sensory preferences will be tested. Biologic specimens (blood, urine, saliva, hair and feces) will be collected at the workplace on a day where participants are working on a day shift (or a day off). In a subsample (Austria and Netherlands) shift workers will provide biological samples (spot blood, urine and saliva) both on a day shift and on a night shift. Biomarkers including hormones, cellular immunity and inflammation, parameters linked to gut health and metabolism of fat and sugar, appetite, oxidative stress, metabolomics and microbiota will be measured. The investigators hypothesize that compared to day workers, night shift workers will experience disrupted levels of pre-obesity markers. Higher circadian disruption, sleep disruption and mistimed eating patterns workers will be associated with more disrupted biomarker profiles. Among rotating shift workers, night shift will be associated with acute disrupted melatonin production, metabolomic profiles and composition of oral microbiota compared to a day shift.

Sleep plays a role in cognitive processes such as memory processing, attention processing, and overall cognitive function. In recent years, the bidirectional relationship between sleep loss and aging, as well as related neurodegenerative diseases, has garnered widespread attention. Sleep disorders are a typical clinical manifestation of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease and are closely related to the progression of these diseases. However, current research has yet to fully elucidate the physiological responses to sleep loss across different ages and cognitive levels, as well as the association and molecular basis between sleep loss, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases. This study aims to comprehensively characterize the transcriptional and metabolic changes in peripheral blood under sleep loss in populations of different ages and cognitive levels using multi-omics approaches and to preliminarily explore the role of sleep loss in aging and AD.

This study will compare the effects of a whey protein supplement or a placebo consumed before the evening meal on health outcomes in night shift workers.