Health: Night shift workers are more likely to develop asthma than those who do “9-5” jobs

Night shift workers appear to be one-third more likely to develop asthma than workers doing “9 to 5”.

Researchers led by Manchester have found that moderate to severe asthma is more common among shift workers, especially night shift workers.

According to the team, the impact can be “widespread” because one in five employees work full-time or at night as part of a rotation.

Past studies have shown that shift work causes a person’s body clock to become out of sync with the daily cycle of sunlight and darkness.

Experts have concluded that this is associated with increased risk of metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Studies suggest that night shift workers (pictured) appear to be one-third more likely to develop asthma than workers doing “9-5” (stock image).

Symptoms of asthma, such as wheezing, are quite different and can change day and night.

With this in mind, the researchers wanted to find out if shift work could also be associated with an increased risk of asthma or its severity.

They also set out to investigate the role of a person’s genetic predisposition to asthma and the role of “chronotypes,” that is, whether individual body clocks prefer “early rising” or “night owl.” ..

The team analyzed health, lifestyle, and employment data for more than 286,000 British workers (all 37-72 years old) collected between 2007 and 2010.

Eighty-three percent of the surveyed people worked during normal business hours, while the rest worked in shifts. About half of them included extraordinary or permanent nights.

The team noted that shift workers are more likely to come from men, smokers, urban areas or less disadvantaged areas, compared to workers employed by nine to five people.

Shift workers also typically drank less, slept less, and spent more time at work.

Night shift workers seemed to be up late, in poor health, and likely to work in service jobs or as process, plant, or mechanical operatives. In contrast, these working hours tended to play a more administrative role.

Approximately 5% of study participants suffered from asthma, and nearly 2% had moderate to severe symptoms.

Researchers compared the incidence of asthma diagnoses, lung condition, and asthma symptoms between office and shift workers.

Researchers led by Manchester have found that moderate to severe asthma (pictured) is more common among shift workers, especially night shift workers (stock image).

Researchers have found that full-time night shift workers are 36% more likely to have moderate to severe asthma than office workers, taking into account other risk factors such as age and gender.

Similarly, the odds of wheezing or whistling symptoms are likely to be 11-18% higher among shift workers, and the risk of lung dysfunction is likely to be 20% higher among temporary and full-time night shift workers. was.

The team also found that both so-called “extreme chronotypes” (which were either decisively early rising or staying up late) were very likely to suffer from asthma.

In addition, “early bird” types who worked either at night or in irregular shifts were 55% more likely to suffer from moderate to severe asthma, regardless of their genetic susceptibility to the condition.

Researchers warned that their study was observatory and that night shift workers have not yet established an exact reason for their high risk of asthma.

“It is plausible that a circadian rhythm shift leads to the development of asthma,” said Hannah Darrington, a dissertation writer and respiratory expert at the University of Manchester.

“Interestingly, chronotypes change with age and become faster in adolescence and as adults grow older, suggesting that older people are more difficult to adapt to night shifts than younger adults. I will. “

“Because both shift work and asthma are common in the industrialized world, the public health impact of our findings is potentially widespread.”

“Asthma affects 339 million people worldwide and costs more than £ 1 billion in healthcare and care services in the UK alone.”

“There are no specific national clinical guidelines on how to manage asthma in shift workers,” she said.

Researchers suggest that employers should consider adapting shift work schedules to best suit their individual chronotypes.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal rib cage..