Depression and Cognitive Levels in Health Workers With Night Shifts

The study aims to analyse the presence of depressive symptoms correlated to memory and cognitive deficits in night-shift healthcare personnel working in the emergency wards of a Sicilian hospital, and examines the repercussions on health and safety in the workplace. A psycho-diagnostic protocol including a subtest of the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale/WAIS-IV (PRI, WMI, PSI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to the sample of 50 subjects (25 doctors and 25 nurses) selected by taking inclusion and exclusion criteria into account. The results showed that the whole sample displayed normal levels in terms of perceptual reasoning index, image perception, the ability to isolate figures from the background, eye-motor coordination and non-verbal reasoning. Working memory index and processing speed index – indicative of concentration, manipulation, short-term memory, processing speed, selective attention and spatial orientation – were meanwhile found to be compromised to a higher percentage among nurses. The Beck Depression Inventory denoted a greater presence of depressive symptoms in nurses than doctors, associated with lower levels of WMI and PSI.