Night shift work and the cardiovascular health of medical staff
2009; Oxford University Press; Volume: 30; Issue: 21 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/eurheartj/ehp310
ISSN1522-9645
Autores Tópico(s)Sleep and related disorders
ResumoThe cardiovascular risks associated with night shift work in medical staff have been suspected for several years. Kawachi et al. 1 analysed coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence in 79 109 women from the Nurses Health Study, and observed raised rates among night shift workers, particularly those who had worked for ≥6 years on rotating shifts (51% increased risk). Effects remained significant after controlling for smoking, history of hypertension, body mass, and other factors. Prospective studies have also demonstrated an increased incidence of the metabolic syndrome in shift workers,2 while a recent analysis of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study showed positive associations between shift work and carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaque in young men that were independent of standard risk factors.3 On-call duty for physicians involves both increased workload and disturbed sleep. Disturbed sleep is a risk factor for mortality in older adults,4 while Kripke's analysis of more than 1 million respondents to the cancer prevention study of the American Cancer Society suggested moderately increased death rates over 6 years among individuals who slept ≤6 h per night, compared with … *Corresponding author. Tel: +44 207679 1804, Fax: +44 20 7916 8542, Email: a.steptoe{at}ucl.ac.uk
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