22nd International Symposium on Shiftwork and Working Time: Challenges and solutions for healthy working hours
This decade has brought unprecedented progress in the documentation and understanding of the associations between working time, sleep schedules and circadian rhythms on the one hand and performance, safety and health outcomes on the other. Big epidemiologic studies and large prospective cohort studies strengthen the evidence base regarding these complex associations. Impactful changes in hours of service regulations and work policies across the globe, and fatigue risk management efforts associated with these changes, yield new insights into the neurobiological, logistical, psychosocial, behavioural, legal and financial issues to be considered when evaluating and optimizing work schedules. Basic research discoveries regarding peripheral circadian rhythms, intricate cascades of metabolic processes and critical interactions with the microbiome shed new light on the vulnerability of shift workers to long term adverse health outcomes such as gastrointestinal and cardiovascular disease and increased risk of cancer. In terms of making a difference, these are exciting times for working time research, which has become more multidisciplinary than ever. In June 2015, researchers from all around the world came together in Elsinore, Denmark, for the 22nd International Symposium on Shiftwork and Working Time. The overarching theme was "challenges and solutions for healthy working hours." This special issue of Chronobiology International contains a collection of peer reviewed papers stemming from the meeting, which together reflect the large diversity of disciplines and methods involved. Here, we give a brief overview of the articles that make up the special issue and provide some context for the main findings.
Chronobiology international