AUTHOR=Gan Jinghuan , Wang Xiao-Dan , Shi Zhihong , Yuan Junliang , Zhang Meiyun , Liu Shuai , Wang Fei , You Yong , Jia Peifei , Feng Lisha , Xu Junying , Zhang Jinhong , Hu Wenzheng , Chen Zhichao , Ji Yong 

TITLE=The Impact of Rotating Night Shift Work and Daytime Recharge on Cognitive Performance Among Retired Nurses

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2021.827772

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2021.827772

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>The exact relationship between long-term shift work (SW) and cognitive impairment (CI) has been poorly understood. The effects of the long-term rotating night SW (RNSW) combining daytime recharge (DTR) on cognitive function were investigated.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total 920 retired nurses and 656 retired female teachers aged ≥50 years were analyzed. Participants who worked at least once per week for 8 hat night for more than 1 year were defined as the SW group, and those without a regular nighttime shift were defined as the control group. The associations among duration, frequency, and DTR of RNSW, and neuropsychological assessments were ascertained by regression models.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Participants with RNSW had a significantly higher proportion of mild CI (MCI), both amnestic MCI (aMCI) (14.4% in 11–20 years, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05, and 17.8% in &gt; 20 years, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and non-amnestic MCI (naMCI) (8.1% in 11–20 years, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), as well as dementia (1.5% in 1–10 years, and 11.7% in &gt; 20 years, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) compared to controls (8.4% with aMCI, 4.4% with naMCI, and 7.0% with dementia, respectively). There were significant negative relationships between general times of night SW and scores of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (<italic>R</italic> squared = 0.01, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0014) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (<italic>R</italic> squared = 0.01, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0054). Participants with ≥1 h of DTR and ≥ 11 years of RNSW were about 2-fold more likely to experience MCI compared with the subjects in the control group, especially with 3–5 h (odds ratio [OR]: 2.35; 95% confidence interval: 1.49–3.68, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The long-term RNSW was associated with a higher risk of CI, especially aMCI and dementia, and the problem cannot be improved by DTR.</p></sec>