Background
Rotating night shift work imposes circadian strain and is linked to the risk of several
chronic diseases.
Purpose
To examine associations between rotating night shift work and all-cause; cardiovascular
disease (CVD); and cancer mortality in a prospective cohort study of 74,862 registered
U.S. nurses from the Nurses’ Health Study.
Methods
Lifetime rotating night shift work (defined as ≥3 nights/month) information was collected
in 1988. During 22 years (1988–2010) of follow-up, 14,181 deaths were documented,
including 3,062 CVD and 5,413 cancer deaths. Cox proportional hazards models estimated
multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs.
Results
All-cause and CVD mortality were significantly increased among women with ≥5 years
of rotating night shift work, compared to women who never worked night shifts. Specifically,
for women with 6–14 and ≥15 years of rotating night shift work, the HRs were 1.11
(95% CI=1.06, 1.17) and 1.11 (95% CI=1.05, 1.18) for all-cause mortality and 1.19
(95% CI=1.07, 1.33) and 1.23 (95% CI=1.09, 1.38) for CVD mortality. There was no significant
association between rotating night shift work and all-cancer mortality (HR≥15years=1.08, 95% CI=0.98, 1.19) or mortality of any individual cancer, with the exception
of lung cancer (HR≥15years=1.25, 95% CI=1.04, 1.51).
Conclusions
Women working rotating night shifts for ≥5 years have a modest increase in all-cause
and CVD mortality; those working ≥15 years of rotating night shift work have a modest
increase in lung cancer mortality. These results add to prior evidence of a potentially
detrimental effect of rotating night shift work on health and longevity.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: January 06, 2015
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
