• Qinyu Chang, Yiqun Zhu, Huaying Liang, Jun Cheng, Dianwu Li, Fengyu Lin, Xin Zhou, Pinhua Pan, Fangyu Ma, and Yan Zhang.
• Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Sep 10.

BackgroundHealth problems associated with shift work and night shift work are gaining increasing public attention.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between night shift work and the hazard of mortality.DesignProspective cohort study.ParticipantsA total of 283,579 individuals with paid employment or self-employment aged 37-73 years were included from the UK Biobank with a median follow-up period of 14.0 years.Main MeasuresParticipants were divided into day workers and shift workers, including the frequency of night shifts, to evaluate the association between baseline work schedules and all-cause and cause-specific mortality using the Cox proportional hazards model. Additionally, 75,760 participants with work histories were assessed for the association between average frequency and cumulative years of exposure to night shift work and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.Key ResultsCompared with that of day workers, the adjusted hazard of all-cause mortality was increased by 12.0% (hazard ratio [HR], 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.18) in shift workers, particularly in those with no or rare night shifts (approximately 16.1%; HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.08-1.25) and those with irregular night shifts (approximately 9.2%; HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.00-1.19). Moreover, a non-linear relationship was identified between cumulative night shift years and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Only individuals who worked night shifts for 20-30 years exhibited a substantially increased hazard of all-cause (HR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.15-2.00) and cardiovascular disease (CVD; HR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.16-3.71) mortality.ConclusionsShift workers, particularly those with rare or irregular night shifts, exhibited an increased hazard of mortality. Additionally, participants who worked night shifts for 20-30 years exhibited a substantially increased hazard of all-cause and CVD mortality.© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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