title: Evaluation of some cardiovascular risk parameters in health professionals exposed to night work.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Shift work and night work in particular represent a risk factor for the health of exposed workers; aim of our study is to evaluate whether night work may cause alteration of some cardiovascular risk parameters in health workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The research was carried out on 415 health workers, 163 exposed to night work and 252 not exposed. A blood sample was taken from each worker, between 8.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. before lunch time, to test total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Blood pressure and heart rate were also measured. Workers with cardiovascular diseases, thyroid diseases, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, those who made use of antihypertensive drugs, hypoglycemic and/or lipid-lowering drugs, subjects with body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) higher than 30 were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the group of exposed compared to controls, increasing values of arterial pressure and heart rate, were not significant. The mean values of total cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly higher in exposed compared to controls while values of HDL cholesterol were significantly lower.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Night workers have clinically significant changes in blood levels of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, such alterations are presumably related to poor food hygiene and to psychosocial stressors.
authors: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Caciari
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Tomei
authors: S
authors: S
authors: De Sio
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Capozzella
authors: M P
authors: MP
authors: Schifano
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Trovè
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Casale
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Cardella
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Tomei
authors: M V
authors: MV
authors: Rosati
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance