TY - JOUR

T1 - Night-shift work and psychiatric treatment

T2 - A follow-up study among employees in Denmark

AU - Albertsen, Karen

AU - Hannerz, Harald

AU - Nielsen, Martin L.

AU - Garde, Anne Helene

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health. All rights reserved.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Objectives We aimed to test the hypotheses that night-shift work is associated with an increased incidence of (i) redeemed prescriptions for psychotropic medicine and (ii) psychiatric hospital treatment due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disease. Moreover, we aimed to assess whether (iii) the effect of night-shift work on the rates of antidepressants differs from the effects on the rates of anxiolytics and (iv) the association between night-shift work and psychotropic medicine is affected by long working hours. Methods Full-time employees who participated in the Danish Labor Force Survey sometime in the period 2000–2013 (N=131 321) were followed for up to five years in national registers for redeemed prescriptions and psychiatric hospital treatment. The analyses were controlled for sex, age, weekly working hours, calendar time of the interview and socioeconomic status. Results We detected 15 826 cases of psychotropic drug use in 521 976 person-years at risk and 1480 cases of hospitalization in 636 673 person-years at risk. The rate ratio (RR) for psychotropic drugs was estimated to be 1.09 [99% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.16] for night-shift versus no night-shift work. The corresponding RR for psychiatric hospital treatment was 1.11 (95% CI 0.95–1.29). The odds of redeeming a prescription for antidepressants rather than anxiolytics was independent of night-shift work: 1.09 (95% CI 0.96–1.24), and we found no interaction effect between night-shift work and working hours (P=0.26). Conclusion As it appears in the general working population in Denmark, night-shift work is not an important predictor of mental ill health.

AB - Objectives We aimed to test the hypotheses that night-shift work is associated with an increased incidence of (i) redeemed prescriptions for psychotropic medicine and (ii) psychiatric hospital treatment due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disease. Moreover, we aimed to assess whether (iii) the effect of night-shift work on the rates of antidepressants differs from the effects on the rates of anxiolytics and (iv) the association between night-shift work and psychotropic medicine is affected by long working hours. Methods Full-time employees who participated in the Danish Labor Force Survey sometime in the period 2000–2013 (N=131 321) were followed for up to five years in national registers for redeemed prescriptions and psychiatric hospital treatment. The analyses were controlled for sex, age, weekly working hours, calendar time of the interview and socioeconomic status. Results We detected 15 826 cases of psychotropic drug use in 521 976 person-years at risk and 1480 cases of hospitalization in 636 673 person-years at risk. The rate ratio (RR) for psychotropic drugs was estimated to be 1.09 [99% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.16] for night-shift versus no night-shift work. The corresponding RR for psychiatric hospital treatment was 1.11 (95% CI 0.95–1.29). The odds of redeeming a prescription for antidepressants rather than anxiolytics was independent of night-shift work: 1.09 (95% CI 0.96–1.24), and we found no interaction effect between night-shift work and working hours (P=0.26). Conclusion As it appears in the general working population in Denmark, night-shift work is not an important predictor of mental ill health.

KW - anxiolytics mental health

KW - Key terms antidepressant

KW - mood disorder

KW - night work

KW - occupational health

KW - prescription drug

KW - psychiatric hospital treatment

KW - psychotropic medicine

KW - shift work

KW - stress-related disorder

U2 - 10.5271/sjweh.4008

DO - 10.5271/sjweh.4008

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35006276

AN - SCOPUS:85128244992

VL - 48

SP - 200

EP - 209

JO - Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health

JF - Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health

SN - 0355-3140

IS - 3

ER -