Shift work carries higher cardiometabolic multimorbidity risk in hypertension

Hypertensive patients who work shifts face an increased risk of developing more than two cardiometabolic diseases or cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM), according to a study.

The population‐based and prospective cohort study included 36,939 UK Biobank participants. Researchers used competing risk models to estimate the association between shift work (frequency and duration) and the risk of CMM, which was defined as coexistence of hypertension and diabetes, coronary heart disease, or stroke.

Of the participants, 30,800 were day workers, 3,065 worked shift but never/rarely night shifts, 1,762 worked some night shifts, and 1,312 usually/always worked night shifts. Relative to day workers, shift workers were younger and more likely to be men, smokers, sleep less, have a lower education level, and have a higher body mass index (BMI).

Over a median follow‐up of 11.6 years, a total of 5,935 participants developed CMM. Multivariable analyses showed that the risk of CMM was 16-percent higher among usually/always night shift workers than among day workers (hazard ratio [HR], 1.16, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.02–1.31).

The risk of CMM was also elevated among workers with a higher frequency of night shifts (>10/month; HR, 1.19, 95 percent CI, 1.06–1.34). In this group of workers with a higher frequency of night shifts, the risk increase was more pronounced for those with a morning chronotype (HR, 1.26, 95 percent CI, 1.02–1.56) and those with <7 hours or >8 hours of sleep duration (HR, 1.43, 95 percent CI, 1.19–1.72).

The findings highlight the importance of modifying shift schedules as a potential approach in attenuating the further rise of CMM prevalence among patients with hypertension.