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Hindi Research Article
Spontaneous Abortions and Shift Work in a Cohort of Nurses in Norway
Bente E Moen1*, Siri Waage2, Elena Ronda3, Nils Magerøy4, Ståle Pallesen5 and Bjørn Bjorvatn61 Centre for International Health, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
2 Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, and Norwegian Center for Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
3 Public Health Department, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain and CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain
4 Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
5 Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
6 Norwegian Competence Center for Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway and Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- *Corresponding Author:
- Bente E Moen
Centre for International Health
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care
University of Bergen, Kalfarveien 31
NO5018, Bergen, Norway
Tel: +4755586112
Fax: +47 55586105
E-mail: bente.moen@isf.uib.no
Received date: April 14, 2014; Accepted date: May 21, 2014; Published date: May 27, 2014
Citation: Bente E Moen, Siri Waage, Elena Ronda, Nils Magerøy, Ståle Pallesen et al. (2014) Spontaneous Abortions and Shift Work in a Cohort of Nurses in Norway. Occup Med Health Aff 2:160 doi: 10.4172/2329-6879.1000160
Copyright: © 2014 Moen B E, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background: An association between spontaneous abortions and shift work has been suggested, but present research results are conflicting. The aim of the study is to evaluate the relationship between spontaneous abortions among nurses, shift schedules, and nights worked. Methods: This is a longitudinal study where we identified 914 females from a cohort of nurses in Norway who had worked the same type of shift schedule 2008-2010; either permanent day shift, three-shift rotation or permanent night shift. Information on age, work and life-style factors, as well as spontaneous abortions during lifetime and the past three years (2008-2010) was obtained by annual questionnaires. Results: A higher prevalence of experienced spontaneous abortions before study start (2008) was found among nurses working permanent night shift compared to other nurses. In a linear regression analysis, a risk of 1.3 was found for experienced spontaneous abortions before study start among permanent night shift nurses, with day shift as reference, when adjusting for age, smoking, caffeine and job strain, but the finding was not statistical significant (95 per cent confidence interval 0.8-2.1). Permanent night shift workers had a risk of 1.5 experiencing spontaneous abortions in 2008-2010 compared to day shift nurses, although not statistical significant (95 per cent confidence interval 0.7-3.5). The number of night shifts the past three years was not associated with experiencing spontaneous abortions 2008-2010, but associated with a reduced risk of experiencing spontaneous abortions during lifetime. The results must be interpreted in the light of a possible selection bias; both selections into the occupation of nursing and into the different shift types of the more healthy persons may have occurred in this population. Conclusion: No significant increased risk of spontaneous abortion among permanent night shift nurses compared to day-time nurses was found in this study, and no association was found between spontaneous abortions and the number of worked night shifts.
