Cardiometabolic & kidneyCohort study
Night shift work and its interaction with sleep duration and chronotype, and risk of cardiovascular–kidney–metabolic diseases in the UK Biobank
- Prospective cohort study
- UK Biobank
Authors' conclusion
Our findings reveal a dose-response relationship between night shift work and CKM disease, further amplified by short sleep.
Study context
- Population
- UK Biobank participants with employment history (57% female, mean age 62 years)5,967 incident cases
- Participants
- 96,365 participants
- Exposure
- Night shift work vs day work
- Outcome
- Incident cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) disease (CVD, chronic kidney disease and/or T2DM)
- Follow-up
- Up to 2022
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
CKM disease
Each group vs day workersHazard ratio (95% CI)P value
>20 years of night shift work
1.32(1.20–1.45)
P < 0.001for trend8+ nightshifts per month
1.32(1.21–1.43)
P < 0.001for trend>1200 lifetime nightshifts
1.36(1.25–1.48)
P < 0.001for trendObservational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Effect modification by sleep duration and chronotype
- Higher risks among short sleepers (≤6 hours): interaction P for night work duration
- P for interaction = 0.009
- Interaction P for intensity
- 0.031
- Interaction P for cumulative number of nights worked
- 0.017
- Not modified by chronotype
Original publication
Night shift work and its interaction with sleep duration and chronotype, and risk of cardiovascular–kidney–metabolic diseases in the UK Biobank. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 18 December 2025. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf774
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it