AN ANALYSIS OF CIRCADIAN TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS BETWEEN PERSONS
WORKING DAY AND NIGHT SHIFTS
Boucher, Dave (Lauren Fowler), Department of Psychology,
This study examined the
relationship of rotating shift work schedules and core body temperature (CBT)
adjustment in two groups of individuals working those schedules. Participants
were law enforcement individuals, 16 males and 5 females (n =
21), assigned to a rotating twelve-hour shift schedule and had been working
their assigned shift for a period of two months. A multivariate, factorial
analysis was computed to evaluate the relationship of CBT within subjects on
each shift and between subjects on the two different shifts. Multivariate
within-subjects tests indicated an amount of variation approaching significance
in CBT between the beginning and end of the daily work cycle in subjects during
dayshift; temperature variation was not significant during this cycle on nightshift.
A significant difference and a linear intercept were exhibited in CBT between
the two shift groups. Nightshift workers, under normal habitual routines, did
not phase adjust to their shift, and they retained normal diurnal temperature
orientation. The implications of shift work and the circadian phase adjustments
to shift work will be discussed.