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The impact of night shift work on breast cancer: Results from the Burden of Occupational Cancer in Canada Study
Author(s) -
Pahwa Manisha,
Labrèche France,
Kim Joanne,
Harris M. Anne,
Song Chaojie,
Peters Cheryl E.,
Arrandale Victoria H.,
Davies Hugh,
McLeod Christopher B.,
Demers Paul A.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22999
Subject(s) - medicine , breast cancer , confidence interval , demography , shift work , cancer , incidence (geometry) , population , occupational cancer , relative risk , environmental health , psychiatry , physics , sociology , optics
Background We estimated the proportion and number of female breast cancer cases in Canada attributable to night shift work, a probable cause of breast cancer. Methods Levin's equation was used to calculate population attributable fractions (PAFs) among Canadian women who ever worked night/rotating shifts from 1961 to 2000, accounting for labor turnover and survival to the year 2011. The calculated PAFs were applied to 2011 Canadian breast cancer incidence statistics to obtain the number of attributable cases. Results Approximately 1.5 million women ever worked night/rotating shifts during 1961‐2000 and survived to 2011. The PAFs ranged from 2.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4‐6.2) to 5.2% (95% CI: 3.7‐13.6), and 470 to 1200 incident breast cancer cases in 2011 were likely due to shift work, of which 38% would have been diagnosed among women in health‐related occupations. Conclusions More research is needed to increase the certainty of this association, but current evidence supports workplace‐based prevention.