The effect of shift work on the onset of life-style related diseases ; Large longitudinal study for 14 years

2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 17590508
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Hygiene
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: DOCHI Mirei Chiba University, Graduate School of Medicine・Dept.of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Research Associate, 大学院医学研究院, 助手 (30376371)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KOBAYASHI Etsuko Chiba University, Dept.of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Assistant Professor, 大学院医学研究院, 講師 (80097427) ; SUWAZONO Yasushi Chiba University, Dept.of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Associate Professor, 大学院医学研究院, 助教授 (90302546) ; NOGAWA Koji Chiba University, ept.of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Professor, 大学院医学研究院, 教授 (40019584)
• Project Period (FY): 2005 – 2006
• Keywords: Life-style related diseases / Shift work / Epidemiological study / Longitudinal study / Occupational health

Research Abstract

Life-style related diseases are defined as a group of diseases which are affected by dietary habits, exercise habits, rest, smoking habits and drinking habit and that includes Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, obesity, hyperlipidemia, hyperuricemia, ischemic heart disease, colon cancer, hypertension, squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema, alcoholic liver dysfunction and periodontal disease and so on. On the other hand, the number of companies using shift workers has increased recently because around-the-clock services associated with changing lifestyles have increased, and thus more workers are shift workers. The Ministry of Labor reported that 22.7% of Japanese companies employed shift workers including night workers in 2005. A working condition is a major factor that forms daily habits and shift work are considered to have greater strain, physically and mentally, than daytime work.
Based on such background, we have thought that it is significant to manif est the relationship between shift work and lifestyle related diseases comprehensively and performed the present study.
The present study dealt with hypertension, diabetes Mellitus, hyperlipidemia, obesity, hyperuricemia, liver dysfunction, cerebrovascular disease and ischemic heart disease as life-style related diseases and manifested the effect of shift work on each diseases longitudinally considering lifestyle factors and working conditions.
Shift work was significantly related to hypertension (OR:1.123 CI:1.029-1.225), diastolic hypertension (OR:1.361 CI:1.192-1.555), hypercholesterolemia (OR:1.124 CI:1.030-1.226) and an increase of BMI by 5% (OR:1.129 CI:1.048-1.217). On the other hand, the onset of cerebrovascular disease was negatively effected by shift work (OR:0.412 CI:0.186-0.912). Furthermore, smoking habits significantly increased the level of serum total cholesterol (OR:1.124 CI:1.026-l.231).
The present study revealed that shift work could effect on the onset of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and weight gain.