Sleep, work and ill health, part 1

Part 1: sleep disorders and sleepiness

Summary:

In the first of a new series of articles on the occupational implications of sleep disorders, occupational physician Roger Cooke describes the most prevalent sleep disorders, their diagnostic criteria, and the role of occupational health in their identification and management at work.

The occupational health practitioner is likely to be asked to advise about the effects of sleep and sleep disorders on ability to work, or the potential health effects of work patterns and consequent disturbance of sleep patterns on the health of individuals or a workforce. The most obvious and immediate effect of sleep disturbance or deprivation is fatigue. This may be a normal response but it can also be abnormally exaggerated or persistent, leading to a description of ‘TATT – or ‘tired all the time’…

 

Roger Cooke is a consultant in occupational medicine and honorary senior lecturer at the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of Birmingham.

Author: Cooke R

Tags apnoea condition management fitness for work health and safety sleep

Occupational Health at Work December/January 2017/2018 (vol. 14/4) pp20-25

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