Night-time work predisposes to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Our aim was to find out whether non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) was more common than expected among night-time shift workers. The Finnish job-exposure matrix (FINJEM) provided estimates of the proportion of exposed persons and the mean level of exposure among the exposed in each occupation. The probability of night-time work in each occupation was assessed, the observed and expected numbers of cancer cases in a cohort of persons born in 1906-1945 during the years of 1971-1995 were calculated, and the cumulative index of night-time work was scored. The cohort compromised of 1,669,272 persons of whom 6,307 (3,813 men and 2,494 women) had NHL during the follow-up. Night-time work increased significantly (p = 0.01) the risk of NHL in men, the overall relative risk being 1.10 (95% confidence interval of 1.03-1.19). Using the lag period of 10 years, the risk ratio was 1.28 (1.03-1.59) for men who worked in night-time shifts to a high degree as compared with those who had not been exposed to night-time work. Night-time workers are cancer prone and have a greater risk of NHL than population on average.
Lahti
Tuuli A
TA
Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, Helsinki, Finland.
Partonen
Timo
T
Kyyrönen
Pentti
P
Kauppinen
Timo
T
Pukkala
Eero
E
D000368:Aged; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D012306:Risk; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance