An Exploration of Shift Work, Fatigue, and Gender Among Police Officers: The BCOPS Study

The present study examined the association between shift work and fatigue among male (n = 230) and female (n = 78) police officers. A 15-year work history database was used to define dominant shifts as day, afternoon, or night. A 10-item questionnaire created from the Standard Shiftwork Index (SSI) assessed fatigue. Gender-stratified analyses of variance and covariance and Poisson regression were used to compare means and prevalence of individual items across shifts. No significant differences in total fatigue scores were observed across shifts. However, the prevalence of the fatigue item “feelings of tiredness” was 89% higher among male officers working the afternoon shift compared with officers working the day shift (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.12, 3.23], p =.020), after adjustment for covariates. Women reported a lower prevalence of tiredness than men on the afternoon shift. Organizations with afternoon shift workers should consider reducing fatigue at work through education and other methods.