Recovery from shift work

Alexandros Kalkanis; Saartje Demolder; Dimitrios Papadopoulos; Dries Testelmans; Bertien Buyse

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1270043

Recovery from shift work

Front Neurol. 2023 Nov 2:14:1270043. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1270043. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Alexandros Kalkanis¹, Saartje Demolder¹, Dimitrios Papadopoulos¹, Dries Testelmans^{1

2}, Bertien Buyse^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Diseases, Louvain University Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders (LUCS), University Hospitals Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
² Laboratory of Respiratory Disease and Thoracic Surgery (BREATH), KU Leuven-University, Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

One fifth of today's workforce is engaged in shift work and exposed to various mental and physical health risks including shift work disorder. Efficiently recovering from shift work through physical and mental interventions allows us to mitigate negative effects on health, enables a better work-life balance and enhances our overall wellbeing. The aim of this review is to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the available literature. The role of sleep timing and naps, light therapy and psychotherapy, diet and exercise in recovery from shift work is presented here. We further review the impact of shift schedules and social support on post-shift unwinding.

Keywords: circadian rhythm disorder; interventions; recovery; shift work; shift work disorder.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.