Abstract
Atypical working time patterns are known to be associated with adverse physical health consequences. The impact of chronic exposure to shift work on psychological wellbeing and mental health is also reported, but not fully appreciated. We conducted a systematic review of the literature on the association between shift work and affective disorders using the electronic databases Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Data extracted included detailed characteristics of shift work, the affective disorders under study, and the population targeted. Some 25 extracted articles satisfied all inclusion and exclusion criteria. Findings of these articles reveal shift work is associated with increases in depressive symptoms (12 studies), anxiety (2 studies), and depression and anxiety (7 studies). Only three studies found no association between shift work and depression. The findings of this review suggest that shift work increases the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Competing interests
None declared.
Contributors
TDO and AA conceived the article. TDO and AA design of the study and both contributed to the search and extraction of studies and its analysis or interpretation. TDO and AA contributed to the production of the manuscript and approved submission.
Data sharing statement
No unpublished data is available following this study.
Patient consent
Not required.
Provenance and peer review
Not commissioned, externally peer reviewed.
Notes
1 Information available from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/labour-market/quality-of-employment/database