Gender-specific association between night-work exposure and type-2 diabetes: results from longitudinal study of adult health, ELSA-Brasil

OBJECTIVES: Diabetes is a multifactorial disease of increasing prevalence. The literature suggests an impact of night work on metabolic components, though the relationship with diabetes is unclear. Our aim was to investigate gender-specific associations between night work and type-2 diabetes (DM2) o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aline Silva-Costa, Lúcia Rotenberg, Aline Araújo Nobre, Maria Inês Schmidt, Dóra Chor, Rosane Härter Griep
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH) 2015-11-01
Series:Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
Subjects:
Online Access: https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3520
Description
Summary:OBJECTIVES: Diabetes is a multifactorial disease of increasing prevalence. The literature suggests an impact of night work on metabolic components, though the relationship with diabetes is unclear. Our aim was to investigate gender-specific associations between night work and type-2 diabetes (DM2) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) using baseline data of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). METHODS: The cohort comprised 15 105 civil servants, aged 35–74 years. Baseline assessments (2008–2010) included clinical and laboratory measurements and interviews on sociodemographic, occupational, and health characteristics. RESULTS: In the baseline sample (N=14 427), 19.6% were classified as having DM2 and 20.5% as having IGT. Mean age was 52.1 (SD 9.1) years. A total of 2041 participants worked at night for 1–20 years and 687 for >20 years. Among women exposed to night work for >20 years compared with no night work after adjustments for potential confounders, including obesity, the odds ratios (OR) derived from multinomial logistic regression for DM2 and IGT were 1.42 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.39–1.45] and 0.96 (95% CI 0.94–0.99), respectively. Among men exposed to night work for >20 years compared with no night work, the OR for DM2 and IGT were 1.06 (95% CI 1.04–1.08) and 0.99 (95% CI 0.98–1.01), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The association between years of night work and diabetes is stronger among women than men. Longitudinal studies from ELSA-Brasil will be able to corroborate or refute these findings.
ISSN:0355-3140
1795-990X