OBJECTIVE:
This study aimed to determine identify any
association between shift
work and the
metabolic syndrome by comparing the
prevalence rates of the
metabolic syndrome in shift
work groups and daytime
work groups for
female workers.
METHODS:
Based on data from
health examinations carried out from April to December of 2012, we selected as our subjects 254
female workers from the Daegu area Dyeing Industrial Complex. We diagnosed the
metabolic syndrome using the examination results, and information about age, whether or not they did shift
work, job type,
smoking habits,
drinking habits,
exercise habits, and past medical
history was collected through
self-administered
questionnaire surveys and
face-to-
face interviews. The variables found in a univariate
analysis to be significant in the occurrence of the
metabolic syndrome - age,
drinking habits,
exercise habits, and shift
work - were included in a
logistic regression analysis of the
risk of the
metabolic syndrome for
female workers.
RESULTS:
The
prevalence rates of the
metabolic syndrome for the total group of study subjects was 11.8%, for daytime
workers was 2.8%, and for shift
workers was 15.3%. A
logistic regression analysis of the odds of the
metabolic syndrome for
female workers was conducted that included factors associated with the occurrence of the
metabolic syndrome age,
drinking habits,
exercise habits, and shift
work. The results revealed that the
odds ratio of the
metabolic syndrome in the shift
work group, 6.30 (95% CI 1.24-32.15), was significantly higher when compared with the daytime
work group.
CONCLUSION:
Shift
work appears to have an
association with the
metabolic syndrome in
female workers. Accordingly, we believe that the
attention of
government agencies and
business owners is needed together with the individual practice of
health behaviors to manage the
metabolic syndrome for the prevention of
cardiovascular disease in
female shift
workers.