Shiftwork association with cardiovascular diseases and cancers among healthcare workers: A literature review

Abstract

The round-the-clock demands of healthcare services, coupled with the shortage of healthcare providers in many parts of the world, have made shiftwork widespread among healthcare workers. Understanding how to mitigate unfavourable ef fects of shiftwork on well-being is essential to improve health promotion, to prevent disease prevention, and to increase quality of life. This comprehensive review aims to present evidence linking shiftwork with cardiovascular diseases and cancers among healthcare workers. Several studies have demonstrated evidence indicating the relationship between long-term exposure to shiftwork tempo and a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases. Health workers are increasingly witnesing unfavourable ef fects of shiftwork on their health state. Shiftwork disturbs circadian rhythm and cardiopulmonary processes, leading to adverse health outcomes. Increasing prevalence of shiftwork in healthcare industries due to population expansion and public health threat of cancers call for investigation towards a better understanding of the underlying mechanism of shiftwork-induced diseases. The shift work period has been considered in dif ferent studies using various criteria, resulting in inconsistent definition of measurement criteria leading to misclassification of the study population. There is a need for a more considerable and holistic ef fort towards standardization of shiftwork definition and conduct an assessment to establish a more conveniently appliacable framework for intervention strategies.