Recent Papers

AbstractBackground: The use of shift work has grown tremendously in the current industrialized societies, impacting about 20% of the working population of the world (Chellappa, 2021). This is non-standard and irregular work scheduling that disturbs natural circadian rhythms, which has been linked to many negative health effects, such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and mental health problems (Balbo et al., 2020).Objective: To evaluate the cortisol levels and patterns of stress response in the shift workers versus day-shift workers and in particular identify endocrine abnormalities associated with non-standard work schedules in the various shifts (day, evening, night, and rotating shifts).Methods: A comparative study was used (a cross-sectional study) where 200 participants took part in four shift types; day shift (n50, control), evening shift (n50), night shift (n50), and rotating shift workers (n50). The methods of data collection were demographic and occupational questionnaires, validated psychological tests (PSS-10, PSQI, JCQ), salivary cortisol levels over five time points, hair cortisol concentration (HCC).Results: The cortisol patterns of night shift and rotating shift workers differed greatly in terms of high baseline cortisol (p<0.001), flattened cortisol awakening response (CAR) (p<0.01), flatter diurnal slopes (p<0.001), and higher total cortisol production than day-shift workers. The dysregulation was more pronounced in workers who had >5 years of exposure to shift work as compared to workers who had less than 2 years of exposure (p<0.05).Conclusions: Shift work, especially the night schedule and rotating schedule, has a great effect on the pattern of cortisol regulation which is the biological evidence of greater health risks. These results justify using evidence-based occupational health policies and specific interventions in the case of vulnerable populations of shift workers.Keywords: shift work, cortisol, circadian rhythms, occupational health, stress response, HPA axis

Copyright © 2025 V.S Bhavani. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.