TY - JOUR
T1 - "20,000 leagues under the sea"
T2 - Sleep, cognitive performance, and self-reported recovery status during a 67-day military submarine mission
AU - Nieuwenhuys, Arne
AU - Dora, Jonas
AU - Knufinke-Meyfroyt, Melanie
AU - Beckers, Debby
AU - Rietjens, Gerard
AU - Helmhout, Pieter
N1 - Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Employing a field-based monitoring paradigm, the current study examined day-to-day fluctuations in actigraphy-based sleep recordings, cognitive performance (10-min psychomotor vigilance test; PVT), and self-reported recovery status among 14 submariners throughout a 67-day military mission. Mission averages reflected suboptimal sleep that was of short overall duration (5:46 ± 1:29 h per 24-h day) and relatively low efficiency (82.5 ± 9.9%); suboptimal levels of cognitive performance (PVT mRT = 283 ± 35 ms; PVT response errors = 5.3 ± 4.8); and moderate levels of self-reported recovery. Whilst self-reported recovery status remained stable across mission days, small but consistent day-to-day increases in sleep onset latency and PVT mRT accumulated to reflect meaningful deterioration in sleep and cognitive performance across the entire 67-day mission (i.e., 47% and 16% of the overall mission average, respectively). Future work is required to corroborate the current findings, firmly establish underlying causes, and make evidence-based suggestions for interventions to improve and uphold submariners' health and performance.
AB - Employing a field-based monitoring paradigm, the current study examined day-to-day fluctuations in actigraphy-based sleep recordings, cognitive performance (10-min psychomotor vigilance test; PVT), and self-reported recovery status among 14 submariners throughout a 67-day military mission. Mission averages reflected suboptimal sleep that was of short overall duration (5:46 ± 1:29 h per 24-h day) and relatively low efficiency (82.5 ± 9.9%); suboptimal levels of cognitive performance (PVT mRT = 283 ± 35 ms; PVT response errors = 5.3 ± 4.8); and moderate levels of self-reported recovery. Whilst self-reported recovery status remained stable across mission days, small but consistent day-to-day increases in sleep onset latency and PVT mRT accumulated to reflect meaningful deterioration in sleep and cognitive performance across the entire 67-day mission (i.e., 47% and 16% of the overall mission average, respectively). Future work is required to corroborate the current findings, firmly establish underlying causes, and make evidence-based suggestions for interventions to improve and uphold submariners' health and performance.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094195258&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103295
DO - 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103295
M3 - Article
C2 - 33130453
VL - 91
SP - 103295
JO - Journal of Applied Ergonomics
JF - Journal of Applied Ergonomics
SN - 0003-6870
M1 - 103295
ER -