title: [The effect of shift work on the health of workers: a systematic review].
abstract: This study conducted a systematic review of the literature with the objective of describing the effect of working in shifts on workers' health. The descriptors used were: "occupational risk", "occupational health", and "shift work", all of which were provided by on-line publications from 2000 to 2007. MEDLINE and SciELO publications were selected associating Shift Work and Occupational Risk--and the former to Occupational Health--using single descriptors. Among the one hundred and seventeen papers reviewed thirty seven were chosen. 91.7% were in English, 70.3% were transversal studies, 18.9% were cutoff and 10.8% were control cases. The research focused on cardiovascular changes (24.4%), quality of sleep and alertness (17.7%), metabolic changes (13.3), among others. Some papers did not identify a connection between changes in the workers' health and shift work.
authors.affiliation: Hospital e Maternidade Municipal Francisco de Oliveira Negre, Serviço de Enfermagem, Tocantins, Brasil. karinekummer@ig.com.br
authors.forename: Karine Kummer
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Gemelli
authors.forename: Eunice Fabiani
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Hilleshein
authors.forename: Liana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lautert