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Workplace
Original research
Rotating night shift work and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among steelworkers in China: a cross-sectional survey
  1. Shengkui Zhang1,
  2. Yongbin Wang2,
  3. Zhende Wang1,
  4. Han Wang1,
  5. Chao Xue1,
  6. Qinglin Li1,
  7. Weijun Guan1,
  8. Juxiang Yuan1
  1. 1 Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei, China
  2. 2 Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan, China
  1. Correspondence to Professor Juxiang Yuan, School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei 063210, China; yuanjx{at}ncst.edu.cn

Abstract

Objectives In a 24/7 society, the negative metabolic effects of rotating night shift work have been increasingly explored. This study aimed to examine the association between rotating night shift work and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in steelworkers.

Methods A total of 6881 subjects was included in this study. Different exposure metrics of night shift work including current shift status, duration of night shifts (years), cumulative number of night shifts (nights), cumulative length of night shifts (hours), average frequency of night shifts (nights/month) and average length of night shifts (hours/night) were used to examine the relationship between night shift work and NAFLD.

Results Current night shift workers had elevated odds of NAFLD (OR, 1.23, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.48) compared with those who never worked night shifts after adjustment for potential confounders. Duration of night shifts, cumulative number of night shifts and cumulative length of night shifts were positively associated with NAFLD. Both the average frequency of night shifts (>7 nights/month vs ≤7 nights/month: OR, 1.24, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.45) and average length of night shifts (>8 hours/night vs ≤8 hours/night: OR, 1.27, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.51) were independently associated with overall NAFLD after mutually adjusting for the duration of night shifts and other potential confounders among night shift workers. No significant association was found in female workers between different exposure metrics of night shift work and NAFLD.

Conclusions Rotating night shift work is associated with elevated odds of NAFLD in male steelworkers.

  • shift work
  • liver

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2019-106220

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    Footnotes

    • SZ and YW contributed equally.

    • Contributors SZ raised the study concept and drafted the manuscript. JY and YW conceived and designed this work. ZW and HW analysed the data. CX and QL provided inputs and revisions. WG supervised the fieldwork of this project. All authors agree to submit this article.

    • Funding This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2016YFC0900605) and the Graduate Student Innovation Fund of North China University of Science and Technology (No. CXZZBS2020127).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval This research was approved by the Ethics Committee of North China University of Science and Technology (No.15006). Participants gave informed consent before taking part in this study.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data availability statement Data are not publicly available.