Vil reduksjon av antall nattskift redusere faren for arteriell stivhet hos skiftarbeidere? En 4-års oppfølgingsstudie.
Forskere fra STAMI har i denne studien med industriarbeidere med roterende skift undersøkt om skiftarbeid førte til endring i blodtrykk og arteriell stivhet, (som er en risikofaktor og kan føre til hjerte/karsykdommer) ved to industrianlegg med 4 års oppfølging. Forskerne undersøkte også om risikofaktorene endret seg etter reduksjon i antall nattskift siste året med oppfølging i ett av anleggene. Resultatene viste at skiftarbeid i er assosiert med arteriell stivhet som fører til økt risiko for fremtidig hjerte/karsykdommer. Man fant ingen endring i arteriell stivhet ved en liten reduksjon i antall nattskift og påfølgende nattskift.
Publisert 04.05.2023
Sist oppdatert 01.11.2024
Marit Skogstad, Elisabeth Goffeng, Øivind Skare, Erika Zardin
Studien er publisert i Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease
Aim: To assess changes in blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness among 84 rotating shift and 25 dayworkers (control subjects) at two industrial plants during a 4-year follow-up, and to assess changes in outcome variables among shift workers at the two plants after a reduction in the number of night shifts during the last year of follow-up in one of the plants.
Methods: We collected demographic data using a questionnaire, examined systolic and diastolic blood pressure (sBP, dBP), central systolic and diastolic aorta pressure (cSP, cDP), augmentation pressure (AP), central pulse pressure (cPP), and pulse wave velocity (PWV). We registered sleep quality. The last 4-14 months of follow-up one plant implemented a 12-week shift plan reducing the total number of night shifts and consecutive night shifts from 16.8 to 14 and from 7.2 to 4. To assess differences in change of outcomes between study groups we applied linear mixed models.
Results: The dayworkers were older, more hypertensive, reported less sleep disturbance, and smoked/snuffed less than the shift workers did. The adjusted annual increase in PWV was 0.34 m/s (95%CI, 0.22, 0.46) among shift workers and 0.09 m/s (95%CI, -0.05, 0.23) in dayworkers, yielding a significant difference of change of 0.25 m/s (95%CI, 0.06, 0.43). No significant differences were found between the two groups of shift workers in any cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcome during the last year of follow-up.
Conclusions: Shift work in industry is associated with arterial stiffness, reflecting an increased risk of future CVD. No significant changes in arterial stiffness were identified as a consequence of a small reduction in the number of night shifts and consecutive night shifts.