A 15-year prospective study of shift work and disability pension

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Epidemiology
• Social Medicine

Background:

• Shift work is common in many industries and may impact long-term health.
• Disability pension is a significant socioeconomic outcome for workers.
• Understanding the relationship between work schedules and health is crucial for public health initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between shift work and the incidence of disability pension.
• To estimate the hazard ratio for disability pension among shift workers compared to day workers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study, including three waves of surveys.
• Followed a cohort of 3980 women and 4025 men for disability pension incidence using national registers.
• Employed Cox proportional hazards models to analyze the data, adjusting for various confounding factors.

Main Results:

• Shift work was associated with a higher risk of disability pension in women (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.75) after adjustments.
• No statistically significant association was found between shift work and disability pension in men.
• The association in women remained significant after adjusting for age, health, socioeconomic status, BMI, smoking, and ergonomic exposures.

Conclusions:

• Shift work may be moderately associated with an increased risk of disability pension among women.
• The findings suggest a potential occupational health concern for female shift workers.
• Larger, more robust studies are recommended to confirm these findings and elucidate the underlying mechanisms.