Perception versus reality - changes in subjective sleep outcomes in different on-call scenarios

Introduction: On-call working arrangements are an effective way for industry to manage unpredictable, 24 h operations. However, a consistent finding in the (limited) literature is that being on-call has negative consequences for sleep, even in the absence of actual calls. It has been hypothesised that stress, relating to certain aspects of on-call, is a mechanism by which sleep is impacted. Using three separate studies, our aim was to compare participants’ perception of their sleep when on-call and not on-call.