HEALTH & WELLNESS

How Long Work Hours Increase Risk of Stroke for Nurses

EveryNurse Staff
Last Updated: 09/30/2019

A recent study suggests that long hours at the job increase the risk of stroke. The results of this study could have important ramifications for workers – such as nurses – for whom long hours are a way of life.

In the new study, researchers used the CONSTANCES (Cohorte des Consultants des Centres d’Examens de Santé), a French population-based cohort study, to assemble and analyze data from self-administered questionnaires regarding the participants’ age, gender, smoking status, and the number of hours worked. The researchers performed parallel medical interviews with the participants to establish whether participants had a personal history of stroke or risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The researchers defined long work hours as working 10 hours a day for 50 or more days annually. The scientists excluded participants working primarily part-time jobs and those who had suffered a stroke before working long hours. The research team used logistic models to establish the connection between long work hours and stroke. They also categorized the information according to age, gender, and occupation. In later analyses, the researchers excluded participants whose stroke occurred within the first five years of working long hours.

Long Work Hours Increases the Risk of Stroke

Among the 143,592 participants enrolled in the study, nearly 30 percent (42,542) reported long work hours, and more than 10 percent (14,481) reported long work hours for 10 years or longer. Of all the participants, 1224 (0.9 percent) had strokes. All study participants gave informed consent prior to enrollment in the study.

The results of the study showed that being exposed to long work hours for 10 years or longer was more strongly associated with a stroke, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.29. There were no differences in stroke risk between long-working males and females, but there was a stronger risk of stroke in white-collar workers younger than 50.

Workers who put in long working hours had a 29 percent higher risk of stroke than those who worked fewer hours each day. Those who had long working hours for a decade or more were at a 45 percent greater risk of stroke.

Other research supports these findings. A meta-analysis of more than 600,000 people found that employees working 40 to 55 hours a week have a higher risk of stroke than those working the standard 35 to 40 hours weekly. The results of this study, published in The Lancet, found a weaker association between long work hours and coronary heart disease.

The Implications for Nurses, Particularly Younger Nurses

Irregular work hours and shift work, as many nurses do, are associated with a range of health and well-being issues too. One study, published in BMJ, shows irregular hours and shift work can cause disruption of a person’s circadian rhythm, sleep, accident rates, mental health, and the risk of having a heart attack.

The researchers in the most recent French study agree nothing that “Irregular shifts, night work, and job strain are suspected of being responsible for unhealthy working conditions.” One of the most important aspects of the French study, as it applies to nurses, is that the results show a stronger risk of stroke in younger workers. A study published on February 10, 2019, shows that new nurses vastly prefer the longer 12-hour shifts over the traditional 8-hour ones and that new nurses are predominately scheduled for these extended shifts. Nearly half of these new nurses are catching overtime hours and 11 to 14 percent work more than one job for pay.

“The association between 10 years of long work hours and stroke seemed stronger for people under the age of 50,” said the author of the French study, Alexis Descatha, M.D., Ph.D. “This was unexpected. Further research is needed to explore this finding.

“I would also emphasize that many healthcare providers work much more than the definition of long working hours and may also be at higher risk of stroke,” Descatha continued. “As a clinician, I will advise my patients to work more efficiently and plan to follow my own advice.”