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Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To explore potential relationships and longitudinal changes in sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics over the first 6 months of work, and whether sleep disturbances pre-emergency work predict future mental health outcomes. METHODS: Participants (N = 101, 52% female, M(age) ...

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Autores principales: Nguyen, Elle, Meadley, Ben, Harris, Rachael, Rajaratnam, Shantha M W, Williams, Brett, Smith, Karen, Bowles, Kelly-Ann, Dobbie, Megan L, Drummond, Sean P A, Wolkow, Alexander P
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10424174/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36861384
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad050
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author Nguyen, Elle
Meadley, Ben
Harris, Rachael
Rajaratnam, Shantha M W
Williams, Brett
Smith, Karen
Bowles, Kelly-Ann
Dobbie, Megan L
Drummond, Sean P A
Wolkow, Alexander P
author_facet Nguyen, Elle
Meadley, Ben
Harris, Rachael
Rajaratnam, Shantha M W
Williams, Brett
Smith, Karen
Bowles, Kelly-Ann
Dobbie, Megan L
Drummond, Sean P A
Wolkow, Alexander P
author_sort Nguyen, Elle
collection PubMed
description STUDY OBJECTIVES: To explore potential relationships and longitudinal changes in sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics over the first 6 months of work, and whether sleep disturbances pre-emergency work predict future mental health outcomes. METHODS: Participants (N = 101, 52% female, M(age) = 26 years) completed questionnaires prior to (baseline), and after 6 months of emergency work to assess for symptoms of insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and trauma exposure. At each timepoint, participants also completed a sleep diary and wore an actigraph for 14 days to assess sleep patterns. Correlations between baseline sleep and mental health were conducted and changes in these variables across timepoints were examined using linear mixed models. Hierarchical regressions assessed whether sleep at baseline predicted mental health at follow-up. RESULTS: Insomnia and depression symptoms, and total sleep time increased while sleep onset latency decreased across the first 6 months of emergency work. Participants experienced an average of 1 potentially traumatic event during the 6-month period. Baseline insomnia predicted increased depression symptoms at the 6-month follow-up, while baseline wake after sleep onset predicted follow-up PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSION: Results highlight an increase in insomnia and depression across the initial months of emergency work, while sleep disturbances before emergency work were identified as potential risk factors for the development of depression and PTSD among paramedics in their early career. Screening and early interventions targeting poor sleep at the beginning of emergency employment may assist in reducing the risk of future mental health outcomes in this high-risk occupation.
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spelling pubmed-104241742023-08-15 Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study Nguyen, Elle Meadley, Ben Harris, Rachael Rajaratnam, Shantha M W Williams, Brett Smith, Karen Bowles, Kelly-Ann Dobbie, Megan L Drummond, Sean P A Wolkow, Alexander P Sleep Sleep, Health, and Disease STUDY OBJECTIVES: To explore potential relationships and longitudinal changes in sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics over the first 6 months of work, and whether sleep disturbances pre-emergency work predict future mental health outcomes. METHODS: Participants (N = 101, 52% female, M(age) = 26 years) completed questionnaires prior to (baseline), and after 6 months of emergency work to assess for symptoms of insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and trauma exposure. At each timepoint, participants also completed a sleep diary and wore an actigraph for 14 days to assess sleep patterns. Correlations between baseline sleep and mental health were conducted and changes in these variables across timepoints were examined using linear mixed models. Hierarchical regressions assessed whether sleep at baseline predicted mental health at follow-up. RESULTS: Insomnia and depression symptoms, and total sleep time increased while sleep onset latency decreased across the first 6 months of emergency work. Participants experienced an average of 1 potentially traumatic event during the 6-month period. Baseline insomnia predicted increased depression symptoms at the 6-month follow-up, while baseline wake after sleep onset predicted follow-up PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSION: Results highlight an increase in insomnia and depression across the initial months of emergency work, while sleep disturbances before emergency work were identified as potential risk factors for the development of depression and PTSD among paramedics in their early career. Screening and early interventions targeting poor sleep at the beginning of emergency employment may assist in reducing the risk of future mental health outcomes in this high-risk occupation. Oxford University Press 2023-03-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10424174/ /pubmed/36861384 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad050 Text en © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Sleep Research Society. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Sleep, Health, and Disease
Nguyen, Elle
Meadley, Ben
Harris, Rachael
Rajaratnam, Shantha M W
Williams, Brett
Smith, Karen
Bowles, Kelly-Ann
Dobbie, Megan L
Drummond, Sean P A
Wolkow, Alexander P
Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study
title Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study
title_full Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study
title_fullStr Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study
title_full_unstemmed Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study
title_short Sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study
title_sort sleep and mental health in recruit paramedics: a 6-month longitudinal study
topic Sleep, Health, and Disease
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10424174/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36861384
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad050
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