Impact of chronotype on work-related quality of life in healthcare professionals: a cross-sectional study
M. S. Majoul, L. Ben Hmida, L. S. Chaibi, M. Messelmani, Z. Moatemri, J. ZaoualiIntroduction
The impact of chronotype on alertness and performance at work in healthcare professionals (HPs) has been hypothesized. The relation between chronotype and work-related quality of life (WRQOL) remains to be investigated.
Objectives
Our aim was to investigate the impact of the chronotype on WRQOL in HPs.
Methods
A cross-sectional, monocentric, observational study was conducted at the military hospital of Tunis in September 2025, including HPs (nurses, nursing assistants, physiotherapists, anesthesiologists, radiology technicians, and ward supervisors). Inclusion criteria were: HPs who had obtained professional qualification certificates and agreed to participate in the study. Exclusion criteria were retired HPs, refresher HPs, and student HPs; HPS with less than 6 months of work experience; or HPs missing more than one month of work due to illness, marriage, maternity, or other reasons. Chronotype of participants was determined through the Horne-Ostberg questionnaire (HOQ). Evaluation of WRQOL was obtained using the “Work-related quality of life-2” (WRQOL-2) scale and its subscales.
Results
We included 106 participants from 22 departments. Sex-ratio was 1.2 and median age was 33.5 years (IQR=15). Nurses represented 84.5% of participants. Median WRQOL-2 in our cohort was 3.25 (IQR=0.92) with low to very-low WRQOL accounting for 30.2% of cases (n=32). Participants with an evening type chronotype had significantly lower total WRQOL-2 score compared to morning type (median=2.8 (IQR=0.8) vs 3.7 (IQR=1.2), p=0.002). A negative correlation was found between morning type participants and WRWOL-2 subscores, including job career satisfaction (p=0.044) and stress at work (p=0.049).
Conclusions
Our study found that evening-type healthcare professionals reported significantly lower work-related quality of life (WRQoL-2) scores compared to morning types, aligning with previous research. Misalignment between chronotype and work schedules can lead to increased strain and reduced job satisfaction. Negative correlations between morningness and WRQoL-2 subscores were observed, consistent with findings by Honkalampi et al. (2022).
These results underscore the importance of considering chronotype in scheduling to optimize healthcare workers’ well-being and performance.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared