Daylight saving time began in 1908 as a way to conserve energy; however, recent studies have found the practice may have a detrimental impact on Americans and the healthcare system.
"First, DST is a misnomer," Indira Gurubhagavatula, MD, an associate professor of sleep medicine at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, told Becker's. "We aren't actually saving daylight. We cannot legislate the amount of sunlight we can have in a given 24-hour period. During DST, what we are actually doing is asking workers to get up one hour earlier every day so that they can have an extra hour of light in the evening, during the winter hours. It's just a rearrangement of our social clocks."
The benefits of daylight saving time
The rearrangement can come with some benefits.
"There are several advantages of extended daylight hours, such as improved mood and morale due to increased exposure to natural light and potentially reducing travel-related accidents due to travel in better lighting conditions," Sachin Gupta, MD, chief medical officer with Durham, N.C.-based UNC Physicians Network, told Becker's. "Extended daylight hours also allows people to take advantage of increased outdoor activities, which is beneficial for physical and mental well-being."
There are also people who prefer daylight saving time because it is "a sign that spring and summer is coming"; however, that psychological benefit has not held up in studies, Anne Marie Morse, DO, director of pediatric neurology and pediatric sleep medicine at Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Janet Weis Children's Hospital, told Becker's. But the fall daylight saving does help the circadian alignment as "it becomes more approximated with what the actual day is doing."
The pitfalls
But the impacts, especially on healthcare workers, have been demonstrated to be more detrimental than beneficial.
"In healthcare, we see during that first week after the change, there are more mistakes made by workers," Dr. Gurubhagavatula said. "There are more ED visits, more hospitalizations especially for atrial fibrillation, more strokes, more cardiovascular events. More missed medical appointments, especially in the morning as people oversleep. This is especially true for teenagers and other 'night owls.' And heart rate, blood pressure and inflammatory markers increase."
The impacts may be stronger for shift-based healthcare workers due to long work hours, sometimes worked during non-standard hours, Douglas Kirsch, MD, medical director of sleep medicine at Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health, told Becker's.
"The transition in either direction of the time change is linked with sleep disruption and mood disturbance, which may exacerbate the symptoms of an already sleep-deprived healthcare worker," Dr. Kirsch said. "Studies investigating time shifting from standard time to daylight savings time suggest an increase in cardiovascular morbidity and hospital admissions from atrial fibrillation, which can both directly impact the health of a healthcare worker and worsen the workload of those working in hospitals."
The changes can also cause confusion for patients, which can impact medication schedules and overall well-being, as well as add additional work for healthcare professionals caring for them, Dr. Gupta noted.
So now what?
The decision to end daylight saving time is complex, with multiple pros and cons, that must be weighed carefully, Dr. Gupta said. But Dr. Kirsch noted that healthcare workers and the general public would likely directly and indirectly benefit from a year-round standard time.
"The change to full-standard time from daylight saving time could reduce the potential risk for near-misses or mistakes," Jim Kravec, MD, chief clinical officer at Mercy Health-Lorain and Youngstown (Ohio), told Becker's. "Of course, in healthcare settings there are mechanisms and checks and balances in place to keep patients safe and limit the possibility of errors. As standard time most closely mirrors the body's natural sleep-wake cycle, eliminating daylight saving time would likely lead to better sleep and a reduction in potential risk."
In 2020, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a position statement — supported by 21 professional organizations — in favor of permanent standard time.
In 2022, a bill was passed in the Senate to eliminate daylight saving, but it did not get picked up in the House.
So far, only Hawaii and Arizona have converted to permanent standard time.