Effects of the implementation of an 84-hour workweek on neurobehavioral test performance and cortisol responsiveness during testing.
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.
Persson
Roger
R
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Sweden. Roger.Persson@ymed.lu.se
Orbaek
Palle
P
Ursin
Holger
H
Kecklund
Göran
G
Osterberg
Kai
K
Akerstedt
Torbjörn
T
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
D006854:Hydrocortisone