Blood Pressure Modifications during Shift Work among Workers in Isfahan City, Iran

Several factors affect the emergence of high blood pressure, among which include environmental and occupational factors. Shift work is currently a commonly used program at workplaces. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of shift work on blood pressure changes. The data used in this retrospective cohort study was collected using annual observations conducted in the Diseases Follow-up Unit, Industrial Medicine Unit of the Occupational Health Center of the Mobarakeh Steel company from 2007 to 2010. In this study, the effect of shift work on systolic and diastolic blood pressure changes were analyzed by controlling for the body mass index (BMI), age, and educational levels using multilevel models. This study included 5,351 people (45.2% on the day shift, 6% on the weekly rotation shift, and 48.8% on a normal rotation shift). By controlling the confounding factors, shift work showed a significant relationship with systolic blood pressure (P = 0.01) but failed to show any significant relationships with diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.08). According to the results of this study, it seems that shift work can be considered a risk factor for high blood pressure changes. It is recommended that workers who are working in shifts are more at risk and need more supervision.