[Study on the relationship between shift work, occupational burnout and sleep quality among employees in a certain power enterprise].
Liu P, Shen B, et al. • Zhonghua lao dong wei sheng zhi ye bing za zhi = Zhonghua laodong weisheng zhiyebing zazhi = Chinese journal of industrial hygiene and occupational diseases • 2026
Shift work is associated with poorer sleep quality among power enterprise workers, with occupational burnout playing a partial mediating role in this relationship, accounting for 47.05% of the total effect.
Key Findings
Results
The prevalence of shift work, sleep disturbance, and occupational burnout was high among frontline power enterprise workers.
44.5% (268/602) of frontline workers were engaged in shift work.
34.2% (206/602) had sleep disturbance, with a median PSQI global score of 5.0 (3.0, 8.0) points.
The prevalence of occupational burnout was 66.4% (400/602).
Data were collected from November 2024 to February 2025 using cluster sampling of frontline workers at a power enterprise in Fuzhou City; 602 valid questionnaires were analyzed (effective response rate 93.0%).
Results
Shift work, occupational burnout, and sleep quality (PSQI global score) were all significantly positively correlated with one another.
Shift work was positively correlated with occupational burnout (rs=0.18, P<0.001).
Shift work was positively correlated with PSQI global score (rs=0.19, P<0.001).
Occupational burnout was positively correlated with PSQI global score (rs=0.57, P<0.001).
Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine these relationships.
Results
After adjusting for confounders, both shift work and occupational burnout were significant independent risk factors for sleep disturbance.
Shift work was associated with increased odds of sleep disturbance (OR=2.31, 95% CI: 1.61–3.31, P<0.001).
Occupational burnout was associated with increased odds of sleep disturbance (OR=4.54, 95% CI: 3.32–6.22, P<0.001).
Confounders adjusted for included age, educational level, and alcohol consumption.
Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used.
Results
Structural equation modeling confirmed that shift work had both a direct effect on sleep quality and an indirect effect mediated through occupational burnout.
The standardized path coefficient for the direct effect of shift work on sleep quality was 0.09 (P=0.019).
The standardized path coefficient for the indirect effect of shift work on sleep quality (via occupational burnout) was 0.08 (P=0.001).
The total standardized path coefficient was 0.17 (P=0.001).
The standardized path coefficient for occupational burnout to sleep quality was 0.57 (P<0.001).
The SEM demonstrated good fit: χ²/df=2.44, GFI=0.97, AGFI=0.95, RMSEA=0.05, all meeting recommended criteria.
Results
Occupational burnout played a partial mediating role in the relationship between shift work and sleep quality, accounting for 47.05% of the total effect.
The indirect effect of shift work on sleep quality through occupational burnout had a standardized path coefficient of 0.08 (P=0.001).
The mediation proportion was 47.05% of the total effect of shift work on sleep quality.
Occupational burnout was modeled as the mediating variable in the structural equation model.
The Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory (CMBI) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to measure occupational burnout and sleep quality, respectively.
What This Means
This research suggests that among frontline workers at a power company in China, working rotating or irregular shifts is linked to worse sleep quality and higher rates of job burnout. More than a third of workers (34.2%) had clinically meaningful sleep disturbance, nearly two-thirds (66.4%) showed signs of occupational burnout, and almost half (44.5%) worked shifts. Workers on shift schedules were about twice as likely to have sleep problems compared to those on regular schedules, and workers with occupational burnout were more than four times as likely to have sleep problems, even after accounting for differences in age, education, and alcohol use.
This research also suggests that job burnout is not just a separate problem from shift work—it actually helps explain part of why shift work hurts sleep. Using a statistical modeling technique called structural equation modeling, the researchers found that roughly half (47.05%) of the negative effect of shift work on sleep operates through occupational burnout: shift work contributes to burnout, and burnout in turn worsens sleep. The other half of the effect is a more direct relationship between shift schedules and poor sleep.
These findings matter because they point to occupational burnout as an important pathway connecting irregular work schedules to sleep problems in essential industry workers. This research suggests that addressing burnout—not just the scheduling itself—could be an important strategy for improving the health and sleep of shift workers in the power and utilities sector. Employers and occupational health professionals may want to consider both schedule design and workplace stress reduction when trying to support worker wellbeing.
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Liu P, Shen B, Luo X, Zhao M, Liao J, Liu Y, et al.. (2026). [Study on the relationship between shift work, occupational burnout and sleep quality among employees in a certain power enterprise].. Zhonghua lao dong wei sheng zhi ye bing za zhi = Zhonghua laodong weisheng zhiyebing zazhi = Chinese journal of industrial hygiene and occupational diseases. https://doi.org/10.3760/cma.j.cn121094-20250506-00177