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Shift work and the onset of type 2 diabetes: results from a large-scale cohort among Japanese workers

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Abstract

Aims

Data are limited regarding how shift work is linked to the development of type 2 diabetes, especially among workers at high risk of diabetes. We examined the risk of diabetes according to shift-work conditions over several years among Japanese adults.

Methods

This prospective study enrolled 17,515 workers (age 40–78 years). Shift work was self-reported at annual health examinations over time from 2004 to 2017 and categorized as shift workers or non-shift workers. Diabetes was defined as fasting plasma glucose, random glucose, HbA1c, and self-reported use of antidiabetic medications. The association of shift work and diabetes was quantified using Cox regression.

Results

During a follow-up of 8.1 years in median, 2071 incident cases of diabetes were documented. Compared with non-shift work, shift work showed a significantly elevated hazard ratios of developing diabetes. Shift work showed a 19% (95% confidence intervals: 3–37%) higher hazard ratios for diabetes, after adjustment for demographic-, cardiometabolic-, and work-related factors. Further adjustment for lifestyle factors and body mass index did not materially change this association (a 16% increase; 95% confidence intervals, 1–34%). This relationship was replicated among workers with prediabetes.

Conclusions

Engaging in shift work may increase the risk of developing diabetes independently of lifestyle factors and body mass index, even among prediabetic workers.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge scientific advice for implementing J-ECOH Study from Dr Toshiteru Okubo (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan), implementation of data management from Ms Maki Konishi (National Center for Global Health and Medicine), and support for administrative issues from Ms Rika Osawa (National Center for Global Health and Medicine).

Funding

This study was supported in part by the Industrial Health Foundation and a grant from National Center for Global Health and Medicine (28-Shi-1206).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yohei Osaki and Keisuke Kuwahara have contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Design Inc, Tokyo, Japan

    Yohei Osaki

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Keisuke Kuwahara, Huan Hu & Tetsuya Mizoue

  3. Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Keisuke Kuwahara

  4. Hitachi Ltd, Ibaraki, Japan

    Tohru Nakagawa, Shuichiro Yamamoto & Toru Honda

Authors
  1. Yohei Osaki
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  2. Keisuke Kuwahara
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  3. Huan Hu
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  4. Tohru Nakagawa
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  5. Shuichiro Yamamoto
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  6. Toru Honda
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  7. Tetsuya Mizoue
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Consortia

Japan Epidemiology Collaboration on Occupational Health Study Group

  • Zobida Islam
  • , Shamima Akter
  • , Yosuke Inoue
  • , Hiroko Okazaki
  • , Toshiaki Miyamoto
  • , Takayuki Ogasawara
  • , Naoko Sasaki
  • , Akihiko Uehara
  • , Makoto Yamamoto
  • , Takeshi Kochi
  • , Masafumi Eguchi
  • , Taiki Shirasaka
  • , Makiko Shimizu
  • , Satsue Nagahama
  • , Ai Hori
  • , Teppei Imai
  • , Akiko Nishihara
  • , Kentaro Tomita
  • , Tomofumi Sone
  • , Maki Konishi
  • , Isamu Kabe
  •  & Seitaro Dohi

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keisuke Kuwahara.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. T. Nakagawa, S. Yamamoto, and T. Honda are occupational physicians in the participating company.

Ethical standards

The ethical approval of the study protocol was obtained at National Center for Global Health and Medicine.

Informed consent

Before obtaining data, announcement about the conduct of the J-ECOH Study was implemented using posters. Participants were not required to provide any informed consent for participation. However, they were allowed at any time to refuse the participation.

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Osaki, Y., Kuwahara, K., Hu, H. et al. Shift work and the onset of type 2 diabetes: results from a large-scale cohort among Japanese workers. Acta Diabetol 58, 1659–1664 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-021-01770-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-021-01770-2

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