Shift Workers With Shift Work Disorder Have Worse Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

To examine the association between shift work or shift work disorder (SWD) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Nonstandard shift workers are defined as those working shifts outside of a normal 7 AM-6 PM work day.

Men presenting to a single andrology clinic between July 2014 and June 2017 completed questionnaires that included questions about work schedules, shift work status, SWD[1][1], personal well-being via the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and LUTS (International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS]). Men who had previously undergone prostate surgery were excluded. Shift work and SWD on IPSS was assessed via multivariate linear regression.

Of the 2571 men who completed all questionnaires, 619 (24.1%) reported working nonstandard shifts in the past month. Of these, 196 (31.7%) had high risk of SWD as determined by a questionnaire. When controlling for age, medications, surgical intervention for benign prostatic hyperplasia, comorbidities, and testosterone (T) levels, nonstandard shift work overall was not associated with worse LUTS (P = .82). However, nonstandard shift workers at high risk for SWD had IPSS scores that were clinically significantly higher (3.74 points ± 0.57 standard error) than nonstandard shift workers without SWD (P <.0001).

Nonstandard shift workers at high risk for SWD have worse LUTS than those without SWD. However, no association between nonstandard shift work and LUTS was found.