Shift work and cardiovascular disease

Abstract

This paper reviews a number of studies which have presented results on the association between shift work and cardiovascular disease. It is suggested that many of the early studies suffer from methodological flaws which render them difficult to interpret. In studies in which incidence of disease has been computed and related to exposure to shift work, the results indicate a higher risk for cardiovascular disease among shift workers as compared to day workers. The evidence cannot yet, however, be considered conclusive.