Night shift work and cardiovascular diseases among employees in Germany: five-year follow-up of the Gutenberg Health Study

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sylvia Jankowiak - , Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Author)
  • Karin Rossnagel - , Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Author)
  • Juliane Bauer - , Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Author)
  • Andreas Schulz - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Falk Liebers - , Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Author)
  • Ute Latza - , Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Author)
  • Karla Romero Starke - , Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (Author)
  • Andreas Seidler - , Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (Author)
  • Matthias Nübling - , Freiburg research centre for occupational sciences (Author)
  • Merle Riechmann-Wolf - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Stephan Letzel - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Philipp Wild - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Centrum für Thrombose und Hämostase (CTH), Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislaufforschung (DZHK), Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) gGmbH (Author)
  • Natalie Arnold - , University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf, Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislaufforschung (DZHK) (Author)
  • Manfred Beutel - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Norbert Pfeiffer - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Karl Lackner - , Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislaufforschung (DZHK), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Thomas Münzel - , Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislaufforschung (DZHK), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Alicia Schulze - , University Medical Center Mainz (Author)
  • Janice Hegewald - , Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (Author)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine if there is an increased risk of incident cardiovascular diseases (CVD) resulting from cumulative night shift work in the German population-based Gutenberg Health Study (GHS).

METHODS: We examined working participants of the GHS at baseline and after five years. Cumulative night shift work in the 10 years before baseline was assessed and categorized as low (1-220 nights ≙ up to 1 year), middle (221-660 nights ≙ 1-3 years), and high (>660 nights ≙ more than 3 years) night shift exposure. Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated for incident "quality-assured CVD events" using Cox proportional hazard models.

RESULTS: At baseline, 1092 of 8167 working participants performed night shift work. During the follow-up, 202 incident cardiovascular events occurred. The crude incidence rates for CVD per 1000 person-years were 6.88 [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.80-9.55] for night shift workers and 5.19 (95% CI 4.44-6.04) for day workers. Cumulative incidence curves showed a higher cumulative incidence in workers exposed to night shift work compared to day workers after five years. The adjusted HR for incident CVD events were 1.26 (95% CI 0.68-2.33), 1.37 (95% CI 0.74-2.53) and 1.19 (95% CI 0.67-2.12) for employees in the low, middle and high night shift categories compared to employees without night shift work, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The observed tendencies indicate that night shift work might be negatively associated with cardiovascular health. We expect the continued follow-up will clarify the long-term impact of night shift work.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)142-151
Number of pages10
JournalScandinavian journal of work, environment & health
Volume50 (2024)
Issue number3
Early online date23 Jan 2024
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

unpaywall 10.5271/sjweh.4139
Scopus 85189192674

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • CVD, Gutenberg Health Study, Occupation, Rhineland-Palatinate, cardiovascular disease, cohort study, employee, incidence, longitudinal study, night shift, population-based, shift work, workplace, Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Shift Work Schedule/adverse effects, Surveys and Questionnaires, Work Schedule Tolerance

Library keywords