Effects of short sleep duration on hemodynamic and psychological responses under long working hours in healthy middle-aged men: an experimental study

This study examined the effects of short sleep duration (SSD) on hemodynamic and psychological responses under long working hours (LWH) in a laboratory experiment. Sixteen subjects participated in a crossover design experiment consisting of two conditions: normal (7-hours) sleep and short (5-hours) sleep. In each condition, participants engaged in simulated LWH (13 hours a day), comprising 12 task sessions. Hemodynamic and psychological responses were measured in each session. Results showed that there were significant main effects of condition and session but no interaction for hemodynamic and psychological responses. Systolic blood pressure and fatigue were higher in the later sessions than the first one. Stroke volume, sleepiness, fatigue, and stress were higher in the 5-hour than the 7-hour sleep condition (all p<0.05). These results suggest that although the combined effect of LWH and SSD was not significant, both LWH and SSD caused a hemodynamic and psychological burden.