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Night shift work and modifiable lifestyle factors

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health volume 27, pages 693–706 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

Night shift work has been linked to some chronic diseases. Modification of lifestyle by night work may partially contribute to the development of these diseases, nevertheless, so far epidemiological evidence is limited. The aim of the study was to explore association between night shift work and lifestyle factors using data from a cross-sectional study among blue-collar workers employed in industrial plants in Łódź, Poland.

Material and Methods

The anonymous questionnaire was self-administered among 605 employees (236 women and 369 men, aged 35 or more) — 434 individuals currently working night shifts. Distribution of the selected lifestyle related factors such as smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), number of main meals and the hour of the last meal was compared between current, former, and never night shift workers. Adjusted ORs or predicted means were calculated, as a measure of the associations between night shift work and lifestyle factors, with age, marital status and education included in the models as covariates.

Results

Recreational inactivity (defined here as less than one hour per week of recreational physical activity) was associated with current night shift work when compared to never night shift workers (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.13–5.22) among men. Alcohol abstinence and later time of the last meal was associated with night shift work among women. Statistically significant positive relationship between night shift work duration and BMI was observed among men (p = 0.029).

Conclusions

This study confirms previous studies reporting lower exercising among night shift workers and tendency to increase body weight. This finding provides important public health implication for the prevention of chronic diseases among night shift workers. Initiatives promoting physical activity addressed in particular to the night shift workers are recommended.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

    Beata Pepłońska, Weronika Burdelak, Jolanta Krysicka, Agnieszka Bukowska, Andrzej Marcinkiewicz & Wojciech Sobala

  2. Medicover Kopernik Centre, Łódź, Poland

    Dorota Klimecka-Muszyńska

  3. Occupational Diseases and Toxicology Clinic, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

    Marcin Rybacki

Authors
  1. Beata Pepłońska
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  2. Weronika Burdelak
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  3. Jolanta Krysicka
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  4. Agnieszka Bukowska
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  5. Andrzej Marcinkiewicz
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  6. Wojciech Sobala
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  8. Marcin Rybacki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beata Pepłońska.

Additional information

This project is supported by a grant “The risk of selected cancers in the night shift workers“ from the National Science Centre, Grant No. PB5169/B/P01/2010/38. Principal Investigator: Beata Pepłońska MD, PhD.

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Pepłońska, B., Burdelak, W., Krysicka, J. et al. Night shift work and modifiable lifestyle factors. IJOMEH 27, 693–706 (2014). https://doi.org/10.2478/s13382-014-0298-0

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