Do Night Shifts Increase the Risk of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo Among Doctors and Nurses?

Night shift work is one of the significant and most frequent reasons for circadian rhythm disruptions, resulting in the alteration of biological functions and sleep. These factors can affect the psychological and physical well-being and also negatively impact an individual's performance at work. Sleep disturbance has been associated with increased risk of several medical conditions such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and others.

To determine whether the night shift increases the risk of BPPV by reviewing a 7-year retrospective data.

The cross-sectional research study was conducted at the emergency department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Qatar. A total of 69 doctors and nurses who suffered from vertigo in a period of seven years were consented and considered for the study. We excluded 12 patients with vertigo due to causes rather than BPPV. Fifty-seven patients who were diagnosed with BPPV based on examination using the Dix-Hallpike bedside test. They were treated by particle repositioning maneuvers in the emergency department.

Approximately, 93% (n = 53) of participants had posterior canal BPPV and 7% (n = 4) had lateral canal BPPV (n = 5) between 2013 and 2019. Anterior canal BPPV was not reported. Chi-square test showed that night shift was associated with a high prevalence of first BPPV episode (P ≥0.001) with less likelihood of diabetes and hypertension (P ≥0.001).

Retrospective data review indicates a possible association between night shifts and BPPV development in doctors and nurses.