Effect of night duties on blood pressure of healthy female nursing staff

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is one of the most common non-communicable diseases worldwide. 1.13 billion people world-wide are suffering from hypertension. Hypertension increases risk of Cardiac, central nervous system, and renal diseases. Staff engaged in shift duties, which disturbs their circadian rhythm, is more prone for non-communicable diseases. Hospitals employ more nightshift workers than any other industry which may be a cause of health hazard in hospital workers. Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of night shift and day shift duties on blood pressure (BP). Materials and Methods: An evaluation study with 35 healthy female nurses is undertaken to study the changes and correlation of BP in day and night shift. Healthy female nurses of age group 20–30 years, working on shift basis in Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru, were chosen considering inclusion and exclusion criteria. Selected subject’s anthropometric measurements were taken to calculate body mass index. BP was recorded every day morning for 5 days as soon as their night shift is done and BP was recorded again on same subject during evening times at the end of their day shift. Both the readings were statistically analyzed. Results: The mean systolic BP and diastolic BP were statistically high after a night shift duty when compared to their BP after day shift duty with P < 0.001. Conclusion: Our study has shown a correlation of elevated BP with night shift duties in female nurses. This could be a predisposing factor for development of hypertension in the later stage. To reduce this impact on night shift workers, duties of the nurses can be spaced well with organized intervals between day and night duties.