Night shift, vitamin D and occupational allergies in bakers
European Respiratory Journal September 1, 2014 vol. 44 no. Suppl 58 P4539
Mario Olivieri1, Carlo Alberto Biscardo1, Dario Valenza1 and Giuseppe Verlato2
1Unit of Occupational Medicine, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy
2Unit of Epidemiology & Medical Statistic, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
Of allergic bakers
| Work Shift | Vitamin D level |
| Day | 27 ng |
| Night | 15 ng |
Daytime bakers
>30 ng – only daytime bakers
< 29 ng – only 9% of daytime bakers
See also VitaminDWiki
- Shift work increases breast cancer risk by 22 percent (Vitamin D is 1 of 5 possible ways) – Oct 2013
- Allergy - Overview
- Shift work PDF file
- Shift workers 23 percent more likely to have cardiovascular events – meta-analysis July 2012
- Shiftwork diseases are often due to lack of vitamin D has the following chart
Background. Night work can influence vitamin D level and growing evidence connects vitamin D with allergic diseases.
Aims. To evaluate the effect of working schedule on vitamin D levels in bakers.
Methods. Forty-four bakers, participating in a survey on the prevalence of occupational allergic diseases, underwent a clinical evaluation, including waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) assessment, vitamin D measurement, spirometry, methacholine challenge, SPT to bakery's allergens, NET evaluation.
Results. Thirty-tree bakers were working at night, while 11 during daytime. Normal vitamin D levels (>30 ng/mL) were observed only in 3 bakers, all of them working during daytime.
Median vitamin D level was significantly lower in night workers (15.1 ng/mL, range 4.9-26.3) than in daytime workers (27.1 ng/mL, range 17.8-41.7). Vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) was observed in 27 night working bakers (82%) but only in one daytime working baker. WHR (Spearman's rho = -0.406, p<0.01) and the presence of occupational allergic diseases (n=31) were significantly associated with vitamin D levels in univariable analysis.
In multivariable analysis only working schedule was a significant predictor of vitamin D levels (p<0.001). According to a quantile regression model, median vitamin D level in night working bakers was lower by 9.6 ng/mL (95% CI 16.3 – 2.9) with respect to daytime working bakers (p=0.006).
Conclusion. Vitamin D insufficiency is very common in bakers, especially in night workers. The main risk factor of vitamin D deficiency was working at night, while WHR and occupational allergic diseases did not independently affect vitamin D levels in this small sample.