'Alert Insomniacs' May Suffer From Cognitive Impairment

New findings published in the journal Clinical Sleep Medicine suggest that insomnia could result in cognitive impairment for night workers.

What's otherwise known as alert insomniacs, or night shift workers, held the highest level of impairment in work productivity and cognitive function. Furthermore, the occupational impairment was more severe in alert insomniacs than in those who dealt with excessive sleepiness.

Researchers also found that alert insomniacs reported significantly higher levels of fatigue than sleepy insomniacs, who emphasize the clinical importance of distinguishing between fatigue and sleepiness.

"Our findings are important to everyone who is dealing with night shift work," Valentina Gumenyuk, principal investigator of the study, said in a statement. "Our study reaffirms that insomnia within shift work disorder demands clinical attention, and it suggests that treatments focusing on the relief of excessive sleepiness in shift work disorder may not sufficiently improve work-related outcomes."

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from 34 permanent night workers, 26 of whom were diagnosed with shift work disorder. Shift work disorder is associated with a recurring work schedule, such as night shifts or rotating shifts, that overlap the usual time for sleep, and is characterized by a reduction in total sleep time along with complaints of insomnia or excessive sleepiness.

The study results emphasize the importance of aggressively treating insomnia in night shift workers, which may improve work productivity and safety.