Effect of vitamin D deficiency on metabolic syndrome among Korean shift workers

This study aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D deficiency on metabolic syndrome among shift workers.

This study included 207 756 workers who underwent a comprehensive health examination at a large South Korean university hospital between 2012 and 2018. We performed multivariate-adjusted logistic regression analysis and analyzed mediation and exposure-mediator interaction.

Overall, 5.5% of the participants had metabolic syndrome. Compared to day work, the odds ratios (OR) of metabolic syndrome and vitamin D deficiency (<12 ng/mL) for shift work were 1.14 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.22] and 1.63 (95% CI 1.57-1.70), respectively. Among shift workers, the OR of metabolic syndrome for vitamin D levels of 12-20 and <12 ng/mL, compared with a level of ≥20 ng/mL, were 1.36 (95% CI 1.15-1.61) and 1.51 (95% CI 1.26-1.81), respectively. Shift work and vitamin D deficiency showed an additive interaction; the relative excess risks due to interaction, attributable proportion, and synergy index were 0.26 (95% CI 0.08-0.44), 0.17 (95% CI 0.07-0.28), and 2.09 (95% CI 1.23-3.55), respectively. When vitamin D deficiency was treated as a mediator, the direct and total effects of shift work on metabolic syndrome were 1.12 (95% CI 1.04-1.22) and 1.15 (95% CI 1.07-1.25), respectively. The indirect effect was 1.03 (95% CI 1.02-1.04) and accounted for 18% of the total effect.

Vitamin D is a potential mediator of the impact of shift work on metabolic risk factors.