The association of shift work and hypertension among male factory workers in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia

Shift work associated with various health problems and there is concern that shift workers are at higher risk to develop hypertension. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2003 to May 2004 to compare the prevalence of hypertension and to examine the relationship between shift work and hypertension among 148 randomly selected male workers from one of the factories in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Information on psychosocial and life-style factors, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements, and fasting blood sugar and lipid profiles analyses were obtained. The prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher among shift workers (22.4%) compared to day workers (4.2%), with p-value of 0.001. Shift work was significantly associated with hypertension (adjusted odds ratio 9.1; 95% CI 1.4-56.7).