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Shift work and the risk of cardiovascular disease among workers in cocoa processing company, Tema
Henry Asare-Anane1, Adams Abdul-Latif2, Emmanuel Kwaku Ofori3
1Department of Chemical Pathology, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences (S.B.A.H.S), University of Ghana, P. O. Box 4236, Korle-Bu, Accra, Ghana. henryasare-anane.gh@hotmail.com.
Objective:
Shift work has been implicated in cardiovascular disease (CVD), a major cause of death globally. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of developing CVD in shift work.
Design:
A cross-sectional study involving secondary analysis of shift and non-shift work from an industry in Ghana.
Participants:
Two hundred (113 shift and 87 non-shift) consecutive workers who consented were recruited into the study. A structured questionnaire was administered to deduce information on participant's age, alcohol consumption pattern, smoking habits, history of diabetes, stroke and hypertension.
Results:
Shift workers were found to be associated with higher body mass index (26.9 ± 4.6 vs 25.2 ± 3.3, p = 0.013); fasting blood glucose (5.9 ± 1.8 vs 5.3 ± 0.8, p ≤ 0.0001); glycated haemoglobin (4.9 ± 0.9 vs 4.2 ± 0.8, p ≤ 0.0001); high sensitivity C-reactive protein (2.5 ± 1.1 vs 1.8 ± 1.1, p < 0.0001); total cholesterol (5.9 ± 1.3 vs 5.2 ± 1.7, p = 0.002); triglycerides (1.3 ± 0.8 vs 1.1 ± 0.6, p = 0.015) and LDL cholesterol (3.6 ± 0.9 vs 3.2 ± 1.3, p = 0.04) than controls. Shift work however, had no associations with HDL-cholesterol.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that shift work is associated with risk factors of CVD.
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