Shift working heart risks
July 30, 2012
SHIFT work has been linked with
an increased risk of vascular events,
according to new research published
in the British Medical Journal.
The research looked at 34 studies
involving a total of over 2 million
people and found that shift work
was associated with myocardial
infarction (risk ratio 1.23, 95%
confidence interval 1.15 to 1.31;
I2=0) and ischaemic stroke (1.05,
1.01 to 1.09; I2=0).
In addition, the study found that
coronary events were also
increased for shift workers (risk
ratio 1.24, 1.10 to 1.39), albeit
with significant heterogeneity
across studies (I2=85%).
In looking at the data,
researchers also concluded that
“all shift work schedules with the
exception of evening shifts were
associated with a statistically
higher risk of coronary events”.
According to the researchers
calculations, shift work was linked
with a 23% increase in workers risk
of heart attack, a 24% increase in
the risk of a coronary event, and a
5% increase in the risk of stroke.
Despite these results however,
researchers did find that shift work
was not associated with increased
rates of mortality (whether
vascular cause specific or overall).
These findings, according to the
researchers may have implications
for public policy and occupational
medicine.
Researchers also said that
screening programs for conditions
such as high cholesterol and blood
pressure may help identify and
treat at-risk shift workers.
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