title: Effects of the implementation of an 84-hour workweek on neurobehavioral test performance and cortisol responsiveness during testing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined whether long workhours in combination with an extended workweek (12 hours/7 days), as requested by the workers, impaired attention and cognitive performance and whether the degree of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation was related to the response to the performance tasks.
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of 41 male construction workers between 21 and 60 (mean 39) years of age who worked 84 hours a week, with alternate weeks off, was compared with a group of 23 male construction workers between 24 and 65 (mean 43) years of age who had a traditional 40-hour work schedule. Neurobehavioral test performance, self-ratings of fatigue and sleepiness, and salivary cortisol levels were evaluated in a counterbalanced repeated-measures design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 84-hour group did not show any signs of reduced test performance or elevated fatigue and sleepiness. The 84-hour group had faster reaction times on day 7 than on days 1 and 5. Although the expected activation of the HPA axis was only found in the total study sample when workdays 1 and 5 were collapsed, the HPA activation can be considered normal.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that an 84-hour work regimen in response to requests from workers does not induce more performance deficits than an ordinary 40-hour workweek. An extended work schedule of 84 hours cannot in the short-term be considered to affect basic mental capabilities negatively.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Sweden. Roger.Persson@ymed.lu.se
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: Palle
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Orbaek
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ursin
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kecklund
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Osterberg
authors.forename: Torbjörn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akerstedt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003718:Denmark; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010912:Pituitary-Adrenal Function Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013548:Sweden; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone