Comprehensive Police Fatigue Management Program

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Sleep Disorders; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Restless Legs Syndrome; Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders
• Interventions: Behavioral: Sleep Hygiene Education; Other: Expert-Led Sleep Disorders Screening and Treatment; Other: Online Sleep Disorders Screening

• Registration Number: NCT00246051
• Lead Sponsor: Brigham and Women's Hospital

Brief Summary

Police officers work some of the most demanding schedules known, which increases their risk of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders. The need to work frequent overnight shifts and long work weeks leads to acute and chronic partial sleep deprivation as well as misalignment of circadian phase. The public expects officers to perform flawlessly, but sleep deprivation and unrecognized sleep disorders significantly degrade cognition, alertness, reaction time and performance. In addition, both acute and chronic sleep deprivation adversely affect personal health, increasing the risk of gastrointestinal and heart disease, impairing glucose metabolism, and substantially increasing the risk of injury due to motor vehicle crashes.

We propose to conduct a randomized, prospective study of the effect on the safety, health, and performance of a police department of a Comprehensive Police Fatigue Management Program (CPFMP) consisting of the following interventions:

1. identification and treatment of police with sleep disorders;

2. caffeine re-education; and

3. initiation of a sleep, health and safety educational program.

These interventions were chosen because we believe them most likely to lead to measurable improvements on work hours, health, safety, and job performance, and because they are cost effective. The success of the CPFMP will be assessed through an experimental comparison with a standard treatment group that will receive sleep education in the absence of any accompanying interventions. The overall goal of our team will be sleep health detection and treatment program that can be disseminated to practitioners, policymakers and researchers nationwide to reduce police officer fatigue and stress; enhance the ability of officers to cope with shift schedules; improve the health, safety and performance of law enforcement officers; and thereby improve public safety.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2005-09-13
• Study First Submitted QC: 2005-10-27
• Study First Posted: 2005-10-30
• Study Start: 2005-11
• Primary Completion: 2009-12
• Study Completion: 2010-12
• Status Verified: 2013-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2013-08-13
• Last Update Posted: 2013-08-15

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 683

Inclusion Criteria

• Active Sworn Police Officers

Exclusion Criteria

• None

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: FACTORIAL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Sleep Hygiene Education	Sleep Hygiene Education	-
Expert-Led Sleep Disorders Screening and Treatment	Expert-Led Sleep Disorders Screening and Treatment	-
Online Sleep Disorders Screening	Online Sleep Disorders Screening	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Motor vehicle accidents as a function of miles traveled	05/2005 - 07/2009
Number of on-the-job injuries	05/2005 - 07/2009
Number of citations issued	05/2005 - 07/2009
Number of arrests made	05/2005 - 07/2009
Number of warnings issued	05/2005 - 07/2009
Number of officer-initiated vehicle assists	05/2005 - 07/2009
Number of sick leave days	05/2005 - 07/2009
Sleep duration	05/2005 - 07/2009
Sleep quality	05/2005 - 07/2009
Alertness	05/2005 - 07/2009
Performance	05/2005 - 07/2009

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Job satisfaction	05/2005 - 07/2009
Burnout	05/2005 - 07/2009
Works hours	05/2005 - 07/2009

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Brigham and Women's Hospital; 🇺🇸 Boston, Massachusetts, United States