Effect of frequency and pattern of night shift on hypertension risk in female nurses: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives: Understanding the effect of night shift on hypertension risk in nurses is important to improve the health of nurses and ensure patient safety. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the frequency and pattern of night shift on hypertension risk and the interaction of them in female nurses.Methods: This cross-sectional study constituted 84 697 female nurses in 13 cities in China. The main contents of the survey included SBP, DBP, the frequency and pattern of night shift, and some other factors that might be associated with hypertension. Logistic regression analyses were used to calculate ORs and 95% CIs to estimate the effect of the frequency and pattern of night shift on hypertension risk and the interaction of them in relation to hypertension risk.Results: Having more than 5 to 10 or more than 10 night shifts per month were significantly more likely to be hypertensive (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.10-1.28; OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.13-1.54), whereas having less than or equal to 5 night shifts per month was not (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.95-1.16). The patterns of night shift were all associated with a higher probability of hypertension and participants engaging in rapidly rotating night shift had a lower OR (1.14) than those having slowly rotating night shift (1.23) and permanent night shift (1.46). No significant interaction was observed between the frequency and the pattern of night shift (P interaction ¼ 0.281). Conclusion:The frequency and pattern of night shift were associated with hypertension risk in female nurses and no significant interaction was observed between them.

Considerations when assessing the effect of nightshifts on hypertension prevalence

“…We enjoyed reading the article titled ‘Effect of frequency and pattern of night-shift on hypertension risk in female nurses: a cross sectional study’ [1]. This investigation found that there was a positive association between nurses’ frequency and pattern of night shifts and hypertension, even after accounting for several confounders, including BMI, marital status, physical activity and preexisting conditions such as history of hyperlipidaemia and diabetes.…”

Working status and risk of Alzheimer's disease: A Mendelian randomization study

“…A meta‐analysis of five cohort studies showed that a 5‐year increase in shift work was associated with a 5% increased risk of CVD (Wang et al., 2018 ). A cohort study among nurses found that those with 10 or more night shifts per month were significantly more likely to have high blood pressure (Zhao et al., 2021 ), the potential mechanism might be that shift work leads to circadian disruption, systemic inflammation, and decreased melatonin production (Folkard, 2008 ). It is generally known that the different job is affected by the education level.…”

Effects of One Night of Forced Wakefulness on Morning Resting Blood Pressure in Humans: The Role of Biological Sex and Weight Status

“…A previous study in six men suggested that elevated BP due to staying awake for one night may stem from baroreflex resetting toward higher BP levels [ 20 ]. In addition, the well-known suppression of the pineal gland hormone melatonin due to night work [ 21 ] may represent another potential mechanism underlying the association between night shift work and hypertension [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. As suggested by both animal and human studies, melatonin, which is mainly released in the absence of environmental light, demonstrates significant hypotensive effects that can extend into the following day [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”

“…For example, a recent meta-analysis based on 45 studies involving 117,252 workers found that permanent night workers had a ~2.5 mmHg higher systolic BP and ~2 mmHg higher diastolic BP compared to daytime workers [ 1 ]. Furthermore, in a cross-sectional study from China involving over 80,000 female nurses, working at least five nights per month increased hypertension risk by 19% to 32% [ 2 ]. Finally, a recent study based on data from the UK Biobank demonstrated that night shift workers had a higher hypertension risk than day shift workers, which increased with the increasing frequency of night shift work [ 3 ].…”