Altered Sleep Pattern and its Effect on Cognition among Nursing Staff of a Tertiary Care North Indian Hospital
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37506/pzxht353Keywords:
Sleep deprivation, cognitive performance, nursing staff, night shifts, circadian rhythmAbstract
Introduction: Disruption in sleep pattern is common in modern society due to work schedule demand.
Aim: to investigate the effects of altered sleep patterns on cognitive performance among nursing staff.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Government Medical College, Jammu, enrolling 81 nursing
staff working either day(N=41) or nightshifts(N=40). Data was gathered through self-administered questionnaires
and cognitive assessment tools: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment
(MoCA) respectively.
Results: The study revealed a significant difference in sleep deprivation among shift workers with 67.5% of night
shift nurses reporting sleep deprivation compared to 26.82% of day shift staff. Cognitive assessments indicated
that night shift nurses had significantly lower MoCA scores (mean score:24.39±3.98) compared to day shift nurses
(meanscore:29.52±4.22). Cognitive parameters such as attention, short-term memory recall, and executive function
were significantly compromised in sleep-deprived nurses as compared to Non sleep-deprived counterparts.
Conclusion: Our findings highlight the detrimental impact of night shift work on sleep quality and cognitive
performance among nursing staff. A substantial proportion of nurses experience sleep deprivation, leading to
cognitive impairments.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Shaheen Akhtar, Monica Manhas, Basant Seyal, Sheetal Kotwal, Mrityunjay Gupta
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