Physicians’ Night Shifts are Dangerous November 16, 2009

I know the title won’t surprise anyone but now here is a publication that tried to find a scientific explanation for this phenomenon.

Aims: To evaluate the effects of a 24 h (h) physicians on-call duty (OCD) (‘night shift’) on 24 h electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate variability, blood pressure (BP), and various biochemical serum and urine ‘stress markers’ compared with a ‘regular’ day at work.

Methods and results: The study was designed as a prospective randomized cross-over trial with each physician completing a 24 h (h) OCD and a 24 h control period including a regular 8 h non-OCD. Thirty healthy physicians with a median age of 33.5 years (range 29.0–45.0) were analysed. Twenty-four hours ECG and BP monitoring were performed and participants were instructed to fill out an event diary and perform a 24 h urine collection. Furthermore, blood was drawn before and after OCD and control day.

Conclusion: Our results highlight the association of OCD with an increased risk profile for cardiovascular disease. In addition to the acute effects observed, frequent night-calls over a longer period possibly elicit sustained alterations in cardiovascular homeostasis.

Reference:

Arrhythmias and increased neuro-endocrine stress response during physicians’ night shifts: a randomized cross-over trial

Rauchenzauner et al, European Heart Journal 2009 30(21):2606-2613;