Lifestyle Factors in the Association of Shift Work With Kidney Stone Events

To explore the associations of shift work, its type and frequency, and working years with kidney stone events and to further explore the mediating role of lifestyles in this association.

A total of 226,459 participants of the UK Biobank recruited between December 19, 2006, and October 1, 2010, and followed up until May 1, 2023, were included in this study. During the baseline investigation, we questioned participants about their occupational status, including shift work, shift type, shift frequency, and years of shift work. Lifestyles included physical activity, smoking status, dietary characteristics, sleep duration, sedentary time, body mass index, and fluid intake. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the association of shift work with kidney stone events, and mediation analyses were used to examine the mediating effects of lifestyles.

During a median follow-up of 13.7 years, a kidney stone developed in 2893 participants. In the fully adjusted models, individuals who did shift work had a higher risk of kidney stone events (hazard ratio, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.26). These associations were more pronounced among younger participants (less than 50 years old) and workers who never or rarely dealt with heavy manual labor. Smoking, sleep duration, sedentary time, body mass index, and fluid intake were identified as the potential mediators.

In this study, shift work was positively associated with the risk of kidney stone events, and lifestyles partially mediated the associations. These findings suggest that shift work should be considered as a risk factor for kidney stones and emphasize the need for promoting healthy lifestyles among shift workers.