The negative impact of prison work on sleep health.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of sleep disorders, deprivation, and quality in a sample of prison employees, and investigate the relationship between exposure to work-related critical incidents and sleep.

METHODS: We surveyed 355 Washington State Department of Corrections employees. The survey included the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and the Critical Incident History Questionnaire.

RESULTS: We found 28% and 45% of the sample reported suffering from Apnea and insomnia, respectively. Over half of the sample reporting sleeping less than 2 h between shifts and being constantly fatigued. We found significant associations between exposure to critical incidents and sleep problems.

CONCLUSIONS: Prison workers are in desperate need of help to improve their sleep. Our findings suggest the importance of continued investigation of prison worker sleep health using objective measures, toward the development of programs for improving sleep and resilience to critical incidents and stress.