Impact of excessive sleepiness on quality of life and the influence of the work shift regime

Objective: to check the sleep quality of the population that, in addition to daily activities, has changes in the sleep-wake cycle and the consequences of these changes for health and cognitive performance. Method: 620 questionnaires were applied to workers of regular daily shift in Belo Horizonte and to those with continuous alternation shift of theCompany Minerações Brasileiras Reunidas (MBR). The survey was carried out through questionnaire developed by the Sleep Disturbance Service of Hospital Saint-Antoine, France. In the questionnaire it was included the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Results: high incidence of sleep alteration was proved in both population groups, such as: snoring(58,21%), irritability (50,40%), respiratory failure during sleep (12,66%), impairment of recent memory (40,61%), excessive daytime sleepiness (63,48%), attention decrease (34,30%) and ESS ?10 (30,08%). Among those with daytime sleepiness complaint (63,69%), 47,33% also had memory impairment, 42,60% had attention decrease and 57,50% had irritability. Snoring and breathing failure were more evident complaints among those with overweight than among those with IMC <25 kg/m2 - snoring (70.24 vs. 43.70%) and respiratory failure (17.86 vs 6.64%), p <0.01 for both variables. Conclusion: sleep changes are not restricted to workers on duty. The inversion of the circadian rhythm is not the only cause of impaired sleep quality, as it is changed and sometimes with lower quality of life also among workers in the population with fixed daytime shift. It is important the public awareness of the impact of sleep on quality of life.