An investigation into the relationship between shift work and white blood cells parameters: a cross sectional study in Iran Central Iron Ore Company workers

Manoochehry  S; Mehrparvar  AH; Jambarsang S; Davari  MH

doi:10.18502/tkj.v17i3.20025

Manoochehry S Department of Occupational medicine, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Mehrparvar AH Department of Occupational medicine, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Jambarsang S Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Davari MH Department of Occupational medicine, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tkj.v17i3.20025

Keywords: White blood cells, Lymphocytosis, Leukocytosis, Shift work

Abstract

Introduction: Shift work can impact different body systems by disrupting the circadian rhythm. Due to the limited information regarding the effect of shift work on blood cells in the Iranian population, we decided to investigate some disturbance of white blood cells parameters among shift workers and non-shift workers in this study.

Materials and Methods: This cross- sectional study examined 1863 male workers of Iran Central Iron Ore Company who had at least one year of work experience, focusing on health information, lifestyle factors and CBC results through their occupational health records. Subsequently, the data were analyzed and compared between shift workers and non-shift workers using SPSS software.

Results: In this study, the average age of the participants was 38.68±7.82 years.721 (38.7%) were shift workers while 1142 (61.3%) were non-shift workers. In the comparison between these two groups, the prevalence of lymphocytosis was significantly higher among shift workers (6.7%) than non-shift workers (3.6%) (P=0.006); furthermore, after adjusting for such confounding factors like smoking in the logistic regression, this significant relationship remained (OR=1.76), [95% CI:1.11,2.80]. Although the number of white blood cells in two groups were in normal range but this count was significantly higher in shift workers (7.60 compared to 7.24*10³/μl) (P< 0.001). No notable difference was observed in the prevalence of neutrophilia, neutropenia, lymphopenia and relative lymphocytosis between the two groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: The prevalence of lymphocytosis in shift workers was higher than non-shift workers; further investigations are suggested to measure the importance and prognosis of this lymphocytosis.