Health Effects of Night and Irregular Shiftwork

Objectives Evidence suggests that shiftwork results in adverse occupational health outcomes. This paper contributes to the literature by estimating the separate health effects of night and irregular shiftwork on a longitudinal panel of US workers. Methods Data from a 20-year panel of worker surveys from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to predict self-reported health limitations related to night and irregular shiftwork using a series of random effects logit models. Results Separate and combined specifications of shiftwork as night and irregular effort significantly increase the odds of health limitations compared with working a regular daytime schedule, with more pronounced effects for irregular work (odds ratio [OR] = 1.09 to 1.52) over night shift (OR = 1.03 to 1.14). Conclusions The results suggest that both night and irregular shiftwork may have important negative implications on occupational health, with the deleterious effects particularly pronounced for irregularly scheduled work effort.