Abstract
BackgroundShift work has been hypothesized as a risk factor for obesity. In this study, we investigated the association between current shift work and body mass index (BMI) among female nurses in Korea. The relationship between duration of shift work and BMI of the participants was also evaluated.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey evaluated participants in the Korean Nurses’ Survey, conducted from October to December 2011, using web-based self-administered questionnaires. A total of 9,989 nurses were included among 10,000 who registered on the survey web site (5,287 shift workers and 4,702 non-shift workers). Current shift workers were divided into tertiles of shift work duration (0.08–3.00 years, n = 1,732; 3.08–6.75 years, n = 1,731; and 6.83–38.00 years, n = 1,686). The BMI thresholds of overweight and obesity were ≥23 kg/m2 and ≥25 kg/m2, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.ResultsMean participant age was 33.2 ± 8.6 years and the mean BMI was 20.9 ± 2.5 kg/m2. There were statistically significant differences in current smoking status, regular drinking habit, dietary habits, regular exercise, sleep problems and self-perceived health status according to duration of shift work. The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity (18.6%) and obesity (7.4%) increased significantly as shift work duration increased from the lowest to highest tertile (P for trend <0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed no association between current shift work and BMI. However, after adjusting for potential confounders, the participants with the longest duration of shift work were 1.63 (95% CI, 1.22–2.17) times more likely to be overweight or obese than those with the shortest duration. There was a significant positive association between obesity and shift work duration in the unadjusted analysis; however, it was attenuated and no longer significant in the multivariate model.ConclusionsThe duration of shift work was positively associated with prevalence of overweight/obesity in nurses in Korea. Although these findings need to be confirmed in prospective studies, they suggest that special attention should be paid to female nurses with a long duration of shift work.
Highlights
Shift work has been hypothesized as a risk factor for obesity
There was no association between current shift work and body mass index (BMI), we found that the subjects in the highest tertile of shift work duration were more likely to be overweight/ obese after adjustment for potential confounders
Our findings showed no association between shift work duration and obesity in the multivariate model, statistically significant correlations was observed after adjustment for age, current smoking status, regular drinking habit, breakfast skipping and regular exercise
Summary
Shift work has been hypothesized as a risk factor for obesity. We investigated the association between current shift work and body mass index (BMI) among female nurses in Korea. The mechanisms linking shift work to health problems are not clear, but changed circadian rhythm, sleep problems, stress, and Obesity is a risk factor for chronic diseases, and a number of studies report that overweight and obesity are more prevalent among shift workers than day workers [5,6,7]. Several studies show that there are significant correlations between shift work and weight gain, overweight or obesity [8]. Because shift work is an occupational characteristic of nurses, working schedules may influence nurses’ health by increasing the risk for weight gain and obesity [9]. Two studies in nurses working in the United States found that the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity was 55.5% to 65.4% [10,11], similar to or slightly lower than the age-adjusted prevalence among the US general population, which is 63.7% [12]
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