Running head: daylight saving time impact ON modern day workers
Daylight Saving Time Impact on Modern Day Workers
Introduction
The American Journal of Cardiology (AJC) edition showed a small rise in heart attack rates the Sunday following the shift to Daylight Saving Time (2013). University of Alabama study found that heart attacks increase by 10% on Monday and Tuesday following the shift to Daylight Saving Time (2012). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Traffic accidents increase by eight percent on the Monday following the changeover to DST. And fatal alcohol-related traffic accidents increase for the first week after setting the clocks ahead (2008). Till Roenneberg of Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, Germany reports that most people show “drastically decreased productivity,” decreased quality of life, increased illness, and are “just plain tired (2007).”
Summary
The researchers of this study examined the transition to daylight savings time (DST) has been associated with a short-term increased incidence ratio (IR) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) that presented to hospitals the week after DST and after the autumn switch to standard time, October 2006 to April 2012. Their study population (n = 935 patients; 59% men, 41% women) was obtained from the electronic medical records of the Royal Oak and Troy campuses of the Beaumont Hospitals in Michigan. There was also a control group. The data suggest that shifts to and from DST might transiently affect the incidence and type of acute cardiac events.
The study used data from NHTSA’s Fatal Accident Reporting System from 1986 to 1995. The same researcher had concluded in 1996 that sleep deprivation led to a 6.6 percent increase in non-vehicle deaths after the spring change, with an insignificant 1.5 percent decrease following the fall clock change.
The authors of Daylight Saving Time Leads to Less Sleep, More Injuries on the Job. Journal of Applied Psychology,...