kjhp Korean Journal of Health Promotion Korean J Health Promot 2234-2141 2093-5676 The Korean Society of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 10.15384/kjhp.2014.14.4.172 kjhp-14-172 Original Article Relationship of Shift Work to Gastrointestinal Disorders in Hospital Nurses KimEun-Ju 1 JungHye-Sun 2 ChoiEun-hi 3 Seoul ST. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea Kyungbok University, Seoul, Korea Corresponding author：Hye-Sun Jung, PhD College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea Tel: 82-2-2258-7368, Fax: 82-2-532-3820 E-mail: hyesun@catholic.ac.kr 01 2014 20 01 2014 14 4 172 179 12052014 20092014 Copyright © 2014 The Korean Society of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 2014 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background

This study researched the relationship between shift work and one of its relevant health problems, functional gastrointestinal disorders. The study targeted nurses working at a university hospital, and compared the differences in gastrointestinal disorders of shift workers and non-shift workers and identified causes that significantly influence these symptoms.

 Methods

In August 2013, a self-report survey was conducted on nurses working at a university hospital. Among those sent out, 1,201 responded and 851 were used for the final analysis.

 Results

It was shown that the frequency of gastrointestinal disorders in shift workers was 1.881 times higher than that of non-shift workers. Factors that influenced gastrointestinal disorders included age, marital status, work duration, type of employment, job satisfaction, and perceived health status. Gastrointestinal disorders were seen more often with older age, being married, longer duration of employment, non-regular worker, low job satisfaction, bad perceived health status, and shift works.

 Conclusions

To prevent gastrointestinal disorders in nurses who work shifts, a health checkup system should be in place for clinical nurses who are of older age and have longer employment records. To decrease the causes of gastrointestinal disorders, campaigns suggesting regular diet and quitting alcohol use should be held consistently. Also, a category related to gastrointestinal disorders should be added to the employee health checkup for nurses with long work experience.

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Characteristics of the subjects

Characteristics Shift workers (N=613) Non-shift workers (N=238) χ2 P
Age, y
 ≤29 448 (89.4) 53 (10.6) 247.124 <0.001
 30–39 152 (58.5) 108 (41.5)    
 ≥40 13 (14.4) 77 (85.3)    
Marital status
 Unmarried 525 (85.5) 89 (14.5) 198.625 <0.001
 Married 88 (37.1) 149 (62.9)    
Duration of employment, y
 <5 384 (91.2) 37 (8.8) 272.350 <0.001
 5–10 182 (73.7) 65 (26.3)    
 ≥10 47 (25.7) 136 (74.3)    
Job title
 Staff 600 (72.9) 223 (27.1) 9.422 0.002
 Charge nurse 13 (46.4) 15 (53.6)    
Type of employment
 Regular 595 (79.9) 150 (27.1) 182.156 <0.001
 Non-regular 18 (17.0) 88 (53.6)    
Job satisfaction
 Good 420 (65.2) 224 (34.8) 61.047 <0.001
 Bad 193 (93.2) 14 (6.8)    
Alcohol use
 Yes 295 (76.0) 93 (24.0) 5.658 0.017
 No 318 (68.7) 145 (31.3)    
Physical activity
 Yes 320 (72.4) 122 (27.6) 0.061 0.805
 No 293 (71.6) 116 (28.4)    
Perceived health status
 Good 390 (66.6) 196 (33.4) 28.052 <0.001
 Bad 223 (84.2) 42 (15.8)    

Values are presented as number (%).

Gastrointestinal disorders

Characteristics Shift workers (n=613) Non-shift workers (n=238) χ2 P
GI disorder
 Yes 257 (41.9) 66 (27.7) 14.667 <0.001
 No 356 (58.1) 172 (72.3)    
Abdominal discomfort
 Yes 168 (27.4) 41 (17.2) 9.588 0.002
 No 445 (72.6) 197 (82.8)    
Anorexia
 Yes 87 (14.2) 22 (9.2) 3.760 0.053
 No 526 (85.8) 216 (90.8)    
Abdominal pain
 Yes 123 (20.1) 31 (13.0) 5.733 0.017
 No 490 (79.9) 207 (87.0)    

Values are presented as number (%).

Abbreviation: GI, gastrointestinal.

Prevalence of GI disorders according to the characteristics of the subjects

Characteristics GI disorders ( GI disorders (No)
Shift workers Non- shift workers χ2 P Shift workers Non- shift workers χ2 P
Age, y                
 ≤29 196 (91.6) 18 (8.4) 74.563 <0.001 252 (87.8) 35 (12.2) 160.277 <0.001
 30–39 58 (63.0) 34 (37.0)     94 (56.0) 74 (44.0)    
 ≥40 3 (17.6) 14 (82.4)     10 (13.7) 63 (86.3)    
Marital status                
 Not married 222 (87.7) 31 (12.3) 48.052 <0.001 303 (83.9) 58 (16.1) 141.635 <0.001
 Married 35 (50.0) 35 (50.0)     53 (31.7) 114 (68.3)    
Duration of employment, y                
 <5 162 (91.5) 15 (8.5) 67.874 <0.001 222 (91.0) 22 (9.0) 192.025 <0.001
 5–10 77 (78.6) 21 (21.4)     105 (70.5) 44 (29.5)    
 ≥10 18 (37.5) 30 (62.5)     29 (21.5) 106 (78.5)    
Job title                
 Staff 252 (80.3) 62 (19.7) 3.283 0.070 348 (68.4) 161 (31.6) 5.752 0.016
 Charge nurse 5 (55.6) 4 (44.4)     8 (42.1) 11 (57.9)    
Type of employment t              
 Regular 253 (85.2) 44 (14.8) 71.643 <0.001 342 (76.3) 106 (23.7) 105.994 <0.001
 Non-regular 4 (15.4) 22 (84.6)     14 (17.5) 66 (82.5)    
Job satisfaction                
 Good 168 (73.0) 62 (27.0) 20.907 <0.001 252 (60.9) 162 (39.1) 37.508 <0.001
 Bad 89 (95.7) 4 (4.3)     104 (91.2) 10 (8.8)    
Alcohol use                
 Yes 133 (82.6) 28 (17.4) 1.827 0.176 162 (71.4) 65 (28.6) 2.816 0.093
 No 124 (76.5) 38 (23.5)     194 (64.5) 107 (35.5)    
Physical activity                
 Yes 130 (83.3) 26 (16.7) 2.633 0.105 190 (66.4) 96 (33.6) 0.279 0.597
 No 127 (76.0) 40 (24.0)     166 (68.6) 76 (31.4)    
Perceived health stat us              
 Good 131 (76.2) 41 (23.8) 4.418 0.036 259 (62.6) 155 (37.4) 20.653 <0.001
 Bad 126 (83.4) 25 (16.6)     97 (85.1) 17 (14.9)    

Values are presented as number (%).

Abbreviation: GI, gastrointestinal.

Odds ratios for GI disorders

Characteristics OR 95% CI P
Age, y      
 ≥40 1.000    
 30–39 3.202 1.835–5.587 <0.001
 ≤29 1.362 0.999–1.856 0.051
Marital status      
 Not married 1.000    
 Married 1.672 1.212–2.307 0.002
Duration of employment, y      
 ≥10 1.000    
 5–10 2.040 1.392–2.989 <0.001
 ≤5 1.103 0.801–1.519 0.549
Job title      
 Charge nurse 1.000    
 Staff 1.302 0.582–2.914 0.520
Type of employment      
 Regular 1.000    
 Non-regular 2.040 1.280–3.251 0.003
Job satisfaction      
 Good 1.000    
 Bad 1.468 1.069–2.018 0.018
Alcohol use      
 No 1.000    
 Yes 1.318 0.998–1.740 0.052
Physical activity      
 No 1.000    
 Yes 1.265 0.959–1.670 0.097
Perceived health status      
 Good 1.000    
 Bad 3.188 2.359–4.309 <0.001
Work schedule      
 Non-shift work 1.000    
 Shift work 1.881 1.358–2.606 <0.001

Abbreviations: GI, gastrointestinal; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.