Shift work can lead to increased depression and anxiety among workers, said a newly published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
At the same time, the study said shift work in some cases could be regarded as an occupational hazard and a reason for intervention from public health authorities.
The study was published in the JAMA Open Network website..
The research for the study was carried out by Minzhi Xu, PhD; Xiaoxv Yin, PhD; and Yanhong Gong, PhD; all associated with Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China. The authors said a significant part of their work was based on data provided by the UK BioBank.
They wrote that "with increasing competition in society, the number of people who are experiencing mental disorders is increasing dramatically."
The authors also wrote that depression and anxiety are conditions that affect huge segments of the population and are leading causes of disability and premature death.
"Evidence shows that long-term shift work may lead to various diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders, which has triggered extensive discussions in the society on the development of health protection measures for individuals who report shift work, or shift workers," said the study.
“Our main findings are consistent with existing evidence. A meta-analysis involving 28,431 participants showed that shift workers were at greater risk for poor mental health, especially depressive symptoms," said the study.
The authors also wrote that the findings were more likely to occur with female shift workers.
For some reason, not fully explained, the study also found that night shift workers (midnight to 6 a.m.) did not share the same risks for anxiety and depression as those who worked rotational shifts.
The study also spoke to socioeconomic reasons.
"Although the harm of shift work depends on a variety of factors (eg. socioeconomic status, access to social resources), it is generally considered to be significantly associated with behavioral lifestyles, as shift work is often associated with low income, poor environment, and subjective stress, which are more likely to lead to unhealthy lifestyles."
The author's also included the following conclusion:
"In this cohort study, we found that shift work was associated with higher risk for depression and anxiety, especially when individuals were newly involved in shift work. Our study not only supports that shift work should be considered an occupational hazard, but also provides evidence for the urgent need for the development of public health interventions that promote healthy lifestyles aimed at improving the mental health of shift workers."
A full text of the JAMA study can be found online here.
