The association between rotating shift work and increased occupational stress in nurses: Pei‐Chen Lin, et al. Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, TaiwanPurpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether rotating shift work increases occupational stress in nurses.Methods: This study measured shift work scheduling and occupational stress by using the Effort‐Reward Imbalance model with self‐reported questionnaires in a sample of 654 female nurses.Results: Overcommitment risk was higher in nurses who worked rotating shifts than in those who worked day/non‐night shifts (OR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.03−4.66). However, an effort/reward imbalance was not directly associated with work schedules (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 0.87−4.35). Among nurses working rotation rotating shifts, those who had 2 days off after their most recent night shifts showed an alleviated risk of overcommitment (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.32−0.82), but those who had worked for at least one series of 7 consecutive work days per month had an increased risk of effort/reward imbalance (OR, 2.75; 95% CI, 1.69−4.48). Additionally, those who had little or no participation in planning working hours and shift scheduling and worked overtime at least three times per week during the preceding 2 months tended to have high stress.Conclusions: The nurses who worked rotating shifts tended to experience work‐related stress, but their stress levels improved if they had at least 2 days off after their most recent night shift and if they were not scheduled to work 7 consecutive days. These empirical data can be used to optimize work schedules for nurses to alleviate work stress.

Cooking-related emissions are associated with environmental pollution and adverse health effects. Of the various chemical species emitted during cooking, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aldehydes are two chemical species with carcinogenic or tumor promoting characteristics. Although PAH exposure has been studied in commercial kitchen workers, few studies have investigated simultaneous exposure to PAHs and aldehydes in these workers. The aims of this study were to compare personal concentrations of PAH and aldehyde in three commercial cooking workplaces and to estimate their corresponding cancer risks. The three cooking workplaces included western fast food restaurant kitchens, Chinese cafeteria kitchens, and street food carts. Comparisons showed that workers in western fast food restaurant kitchens and Chinese cafeteria kitchens tended to have lower personal concentrations of these pollutants compared to workers in street food carts. The geometric mean (95% CI) cancer risks in the three workplaces were, from lowest to highest, 1.36 (1.12–1.67) × 10⁻⁵ for western fast food restaurant kitchens, 1.52 (1.01–2.28) × 10⁻⁵ for Chinese cafeteria kitchens, and 3.14 (2.45–4.01) × 10⁻⁵ for street food carts. The percentage contributions of aldehyde species to cancer risk were very high (74.9–99.7%). Street food cart workers had high personal exposure to aldehyde probably due to lack of effective exhaust systems. Thus, their cancer risk was significantly higher than those of workers in western fast food restaurant kitchens (p < 0.001) and Chinese cafeteria kitchens (p = 0.013).

Cooking oil fumes (COFs) contain many carcinogens. We investigated the association between COFs and incidence risk of any cancer and lung cancer in chefs.

This study aims to assess the interactive effect of marital status and shift work on family function. A population-based sample of 1,438 nurses between the ages of 20-45 yr was recruited from Taiwan during the period from July 2005 to April 2006 using a mailed questionnaire. The self-administered questionnaire contained information about demographic data, work status, shift work schedule, and the Family APGAR (Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection, and Resolve) Scale, to evaluate family function. Compared to day shift nurses, non-night and rotation shift nurses had 1.53- and 1.38-fold (95% CI=1.09-2.14 and 1.01-1.88) risk to have poor family function after adjusting for other covariates. Married nurses, by contrast, had a 0.44-fold (95% CI=0.29-0.66) risk to have poor family function compared to single nurses. In addition, married nurses who worked non-night or rotation shifts had a significantly higher percent of poor family function than those married nurses working day shifts; however, similar results were not replicated in single nurses. We concluded that shift work and marital status could influence family function.