CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS AND SHIFT WORK IN MEN LIVING IN HAUTE-GARONNE

Objective : The goal of this study was to examine the relationship bet ween shift work and cardiovascular risk factors in a cross sectional s urvey. Material and methods : 2 610 men of the PRIME study, aged 50-60 years, residing in Haute-Garonne (France) and selected from health ce nters and Various firms were screened. White-collar workers, retired a nd disabled men at the time of the study were excluded so the analysis was performed on a sample of 1 341 subjects. Work was categorized as day work (n = 1 161) and three types of shift work : 2 x 8 (n = 108), 3 x 8 (n = 41) and night (n = 31). A comparison of cardiovascular risk factors was performed in the different types of work. Results : Univa riate analysis showed that systolic blood pressure was significantly h igher among 2 x 8 workers (132.7 +/- 17.4 mmHg) than in other shift wo rkers and day workers (126.9 +/- 15.1 mmHg). The same difference was o bserved for diastolic blood pressure. Plasma triglycerides were signif icantly higher among night workers (1.60 +/- 0.76 g/l) than among day workers (1.29 +/- 0.81 g/L). Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of hypertension, defined as systolic (greater than or equal t o 140 mmHg) and diastolic (greater than or equal to 90 mmHg) blood pre ssure and/or antihypertensive drug, was 2 times higher among 2 x 8 shi ft workers (OR: 2.14, 95 % CI [1.42-3.23]) than among day workers afte r adjustment for BMI, alcohol and tobacco consumption and plasma trigl yceride levels. The same result (OR : 1.99, 95 % CI [1.28-3.12] was ob tained with a different definition of hypertension (systolic greater t han or equal to 160 mmHg and/or diastolic greater than or equal to 95 mmHg blood pressure and/or antihypertensive drug). Among night workers the risk of triglycerides > 2 g/L was higher (OR : 2.52, 95 % CI [1.0 6-6.01] than among day workers. The risk of both hypertension (140/90 mmHg) and hypertriglyceridemia in comparison to day workers was (OR : 2.01, 95 % CI [1.33-3.03]) and (OR : 2.44, 95 % CI [1.14-5.21]) for 2 x 8 shift workers and night shift workers respectively. Conclusion : T he results of this study, putting into evidence a relationship between shift work, hypertension and high level of triglycerides, justify a c areful screening by occupational physicians of cardiovascular risk fac tors among shift workers.