Research Plus

Shiftwork heart risk?

A systematic review of papers published to May 2008 found only limited evidence of a causal association between shiftwork and ischaemic heart disease (IHD)1. (A recent paper in the journal Atherosclerosis2, which found an acceleration of atherosclerosis in male shiftworkers was published after the inclusion cut-off – see OH atWork 6(1): 39.) There was only weak or no association of shiftwork with fatal IHD events, though a modest association was observed when fatal and non-fatal events were combined. Selection bias and confounding factors could not be ruled out in most papers.

1 Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health 2009; 35(3): 163–179. http://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=1319

2 Atherosclerosis 2009; online first: doi:10.1016/ j.atherosclerosis.2009.01.016 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021915009000586

Tags evidence based practice heart disease shiftwork

Occupational Health at Work August/September 2009 (vol. 06/2) pp40