Previous observational studies have found that shift work can increase the risk of metabolic disorders, cancer, and cardiovascular disease by affecting sleep schedules, biological clock rhythms, and other mechanisms.
However, there is no consistent conclusion on whether shift work is associated with the onset of dementia.
Recently, a study by Yame Tang’s team, a professor of neurology at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, found that shift work was associated with a 30% increased risk of all-cause dementia compared to non-shift work.
And this relationship was not altered by genetic susceptibility.
The study was published in BMC Medicine.
This is a prospective cohort study.
Community members were recruited between 2006 and 2010, and participants who were working at baseline and did not have cognitive impairment or dementia were selected for inclusion in the study.
Divided into non-shift workgroups and shift workgroups based on self-reported work shifts at baseline.
The average time to follow-up was 12.4 years, with all-cause dementia as the primary outcome and dementia subtypes including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and other types of dementia as the secondary outcome.
The results showed that shift work was associated with a 30% increased risk of all-cause dementia compared to non-shift work.
There was no significant interaction between shift work and genetic susceptibility to dementia.
This study has important public health implications.
It suggests that relevant occupational health management policies should be developed in the future to improve the long-term health and quality of life of shift workers.
