Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan 16;22(1):16.
doi: 10.1186/s12916-023-03240-8.

Associations between long-term night shift work and incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study of 277,059 UK Biobank participants

Jia Li  1 , Liangle Yang  2   3 , Yuxin Yao  2   3 , Pei Gu  2   3 , Yujia Xie  2   3 , Haoyu Yin  2   3 , Mingyue Xue  4 , Yu Jiang  5 , Jianghong Dai  6 , Jixuan Ma  7   8
Affiliations

Associations between long-term night shift work and incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study of 277,059 UK Biobank participants

Jia Li et al. BMC Med. .

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the effects of night shifts and their interactions with genetic factors on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, we aim to investigate relationships between long-term night shift work exposure and COPD risk, and assess modification effects of genetic predisposition.

Methods: A total of 277,059 subjects who were in paid employment or self-employed were included in the UK Biobank. Information on current and lifetime employment was obtained, and a weighted COPD-specific genetic risk score (GRS) was constructed. We used Cox proportional hazard models to investigate associations between night shift work and COPD risk, and their interaction with COPD-specific GRS.

Results: The cohort study included 277,059 participants (133,063 men [48.03%]; mean [SD] age, 52.71 [7.08] years). During a median follow-up of 12.87 years, we documented 6558 incidents of COPD. From day work, irregular night shifts to regular night shifts, there was an increased trend in COPD incidence (P for trend < 0.001). Compared with day workers, the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of COPD was 1.28 (1.20, 1.37) for subjects with rarely/sometimes night shifts and 1.49 (1.35, 1.66) for those with permanent night shifts. Besides, the longer durations (especially in subjects with night shifts ≥ 10 years) and increasing monthly frequency of night shifts (in workers with > 8 nights/month) were associated with a higher COPD risk. Additionally, there was an additive interaction between night shifts and genetic susceptibility on the COPD risk. Subjects with permanent night shifts and high genetic risk had the highest risk of COPD (HR: 1.90 [95% CI: 1.63, 2.22]), with day workers with low genetic risk as a reference.

Conclusions: Long-term night shift exposure is associated with a higher risk of COPD. Our findings suggest that decreasing the frequency and duration of night shifts may offer a promising approach to mitigating respiratory disease incidence in night shift workers, particularly in light of individual susceptibility.

Keywords: COPD; Genetic risk; Night shift work; Risk factor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the study. GRS Genetic risk score, COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Joint effects of genetic risk score (GRS) with current work schedule on COPD risk. AP Attributable proportion, COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HR hazard ratio, CI Confidence interval, BMI Body mass index, IPAQ International Physical Activity Questionnaire. RERI Relative excess risk to interaction. Adjusted for age, sex, BMI, Townsend deprivation index, sleep duration, smoking status, alcohol drinking, IPAQ activity group, chronotype, and asthma
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pavord ID, Yousaf N, Birring SS. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in non-smokers. Lancet. 2009;374(9706):1964. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)62114-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vogelmeier CF, Criner GJ, Martinez FJ, Anzueto A, Barnes PJ, Bourbeau J, Celli BR, Chen R, Decramer M, Fabbri LM, et al. Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of chronic obstructive lung disease 2017 report. GOLD Executive Summary. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195(5):557–582. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201701-0218PP. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leitao Filho FS, Alotaibi NM, Ngan D, Tam S, Yang J, Hollander Z, Chen V, FitzGerald JM, Nislow C, Leung JM, et al. Sputum microbiome is associated with 1-year mortality after chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospitalizations. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019;199(10):1205–1213. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201806-1135OC. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Suzuki M, Makita H, Ostling J, Thomsen LH, Konno S, Nagai K, Shimizu K, Pedersen JH, Ashraf H, Bruijnzeel PL, et al. Lower leptin/adiponectin ratio and risk of rapid lung function decline in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2014;11(10):1511–1519. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201408-351OC. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Collaborators GDaI. Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1204–1222. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types