Abstract
BackgroundIn aging healthcare professionals, multiple stressors such as night work may affect life and work satisfaction and risk for chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease [CVD]). In this pilot study we compared workability, quality of life (QoL), and CVD risk markers between night shift and day workers.MethodsWe included 70 hospital employees (mean age 52 ± 4 years, 91.4% female): 32 rotating night shift workers (> 3 nights/month) and 38 permanent day workers. In addition to sociodemographic, lifestyle, and sleep characteristics, we assessed i) workability index (WAI), ii) QoL (World Health Organization Quality of Life [WHOQOL-Bref]) and iii) CVD risk markers, i.e. carotid ultrasound measurements, and biomarkers (NTproBNP, CRP, IL‑6, LDL, ferritin, copper, zinc, and selenium). WAI, QoL, and CVD risk markers were compared between night and day workers. In a subgroup of participants (N = 38) with complete data, we used quantile regression analysis to estimate age and multivariate adjusted differences in biomarker levels.ResultsWe found no differences in the domains of QoL (physical health, psychological, social relationships, and environment) and WAI scores between night and day workers. Night shift workers were less likely to report excellent workability than day workers, although differences were not statistically significant. Night shift workers reported more sleep problems (73.1% vs. 55.6%) and tended to have lower zinc levels and higher inflammatory markers (CRP, IL‑6, ferritin), but differences were not significant after adjusting for potential confounders.ConclusionsWorkability, QoL and CVD markers did not significantly differ between rotating night shift and day workers in this small pilot study. Sleep problems and inflammatory marker levels carry implications for occupational health.Supplementary InformationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00508-021-01928-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Occupational health services play a key role in managing healthy aging and workplace factors [1, 2]
We found minor differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers that need to be confirmed in a larger sample
Sleep disorders were more frequently reported by rotating night shift workers compared to day workers, we found no significant reduction in their quality of life (QoL); it should be noted that in our study sample, day workers were affected by sleep problems, possibly due to their past exposure to night work, which may lead to longlasting sleep complaints that persist after workers quit night shift work, as suggested by a recent survey among Austrian hospital employees and the general population [37]
Summary
Occupational health services play a key role in managing healthy aging and workplace factors [1, 2]. Night workers are employees who are likely to work a certain proportion of their annual work time during the night (Directive 2003/88/EC) Shift workers, both with and without night shifts [5], report lower work-life-balance satisfaction than day workers [6]. Assessment of early and late indicators of biological and functional aging and oxidative stress responses (e.g. leukocytes telomere length) in hospital workers, showed an association of workability scores with the number of night shifts, age, and the number of (chronic) diseases. Shift workers were reported to have several risk factors contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to day workers, such as a higher BMI, dyslipidemia [14] and inflammatory markers associated with CVD risk [14,15,16,17], with implications of a dose-response [18] risk increase for CVD and CVD mortality [12, 19]
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