Father/Son Team in Indiana Receive Honorable Mention

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 28, 2006 – The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) announced today that its 2006 Healthy Sleep Community Award winner is the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group, part of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass. In addition, Tony and C.J. Edgecombe of Zionsville, Ind., received an honorable mention for their efforts to raise community awareness and understanding of narcolepsy.

The five-year-old Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group studies the effects of extended work hours and sleep deprivation on the safety and health of physicians, patients, police officers and the general public. This scientific task force conducts definitive studies to clarify the relationships between sleep deprivation and health and safety issues, as well as promotes sleep-friendly policies for extended-shift workers.

"It is our privilege to recognize the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group for its groundbreaking work in applying clinical sleep research to significant public health and safety concerns," said Richard L. Gelula, NSF’s chief executive officer. "Its efforts are enormously helpful in connecting the dots between long work hours, sleep deprivation and such serious safety issues as medical errors and vehicle crashes."

Among its studies, the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group has compared the fatigue level and medical error rate of physicians-in-training (interns) who worked a maximum of 16 consecutive hours to those interns who worked a more traditional schedule of recurrent 30-consecutive-hour shifts. The study showed that interns made nearly 36% more serious medical errors, including more than five times as many serious diagnostic errors, on the traditional schedule as compared to the limited work schedule. In another project, the group conducted a nationwide survey of interns to determine if there was a relationship between long work hours and a greater risk of vehicle crashes during commutes from the hospital. The group found that the odds of a vehicle crash risk for interns after an extended shift was more than double that following a non-extended shift; the odds of a near-miss accident increased nearly six-fold.

Currently, the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group is studying the effects of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders on the safety and health of police officers in a multi-pronged initiative that includes partnerships with the Philadelphia Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Department.

As their findings emerge regarding the profound health and safety effects of long work hours and sleep deprivation, the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group has begun working with local lawmakers and professional medical organizations to recommend policies promoting sleep and safety. For instance, the group is working with the staff of Brigham and Women’s Hospital to limit work hours for interns and senior residents in order to minimize errors and optimize medical education. It is also working with Summa Health Systems in Ohio and with Massachusetts General Hospital to help study the implications of their staff’s work schedules. In addition, the group has provided evidence-based guidance on bills pending in the Massachusetts legislature regarding worker fatigue and drowsy driving.

NSF also recognized the father-and-son team of Tony and C.J. Edgecombe with an honorable mention in this year’s Healthy Sleep Community Award competition. Twelve-year-old C.J. suffers from narcolepsy, and the Edgecombes created a special educational program for C.J.’s school to encourage greater understanding about this and other sleep disorders. The program was held in conjunction with NSF’s National Sleep Awareness Week ® last March.

The presentation included a video that explained that narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that prevents C.J. from controlling the timing of his sleep, resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness, sudden sleep attacks and other consequences. Following the video, C.J. fielded his fellow students’ questions, and children were encouraged to keep sleep diaries and write essays about the importance of sleep. The school is planning to make the program an annual event.

This is the eighth year that NSF has held its Healthy Sleep Community Award program, which recognizes outstanding efforts to initiate or continue a sleep activity or program with effective, long-lasting results on a significant proportion of a population. The award announcements are made during National Sleep Awareness Week®, NSF’s annual campaign to raise awareness about the importance of sleep. This year, National Sleep Awareness Week® takes place from March 27 to April 2.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public health and safety by achieving greater understanding of sleep and sleep disorders. NSF furthers its mission through sleep-related education, research and advocacy initiatives. NSF’s membership includes researchers and clinicians focused on sleep medicine as well as other professionals in the health/medical/science fields, individuals and more than 700 sleep clinics throughout North America that join the Foundation’s Community Sleep Awareness Partners program. NSF can be found online at www.sleepfoundation.org