Interdisciplinary exchange on current topics in shift work research
Interdisciplinary exchange on current topics in shift work research
Working Time Workshop at the IPA in Bochum on April 12, 2018
A total of 22 scientists met for an international "Working Time Workshop" on April 12, 2018 in Bochum to discuss current research results and important questions on the subject of shift work. The symposium, organized by the Working Group on Epidemiology in the World of Work (DGEpi, GMDS, DGSMP, and DGAUM) in collaboration with the IPA, brought together epidemiologists, occupational physicians, psychologists and chronobiologists to discuss the pressing questions for future research and to learn about new ones exchange ideas.
At the beginning of the one-day meeting, Prof. Kristan Aronson, PhD from the Queen's Cancer Research Institute in Kingston, Ontario, Canada gave the keynote lecture on shift work. The expert involved as a cancer epidemiologist in various monographs of the International Cancer Agency, has been researching the role of environment and genetic risk factors in the development of cancer for several years and has published numerous publications on the subject of shift work and health. She presented various new research results on shift work and breast cancer as well as biomarkers. In this context, the role of metrics such as Population Attributable Risks in epidemiology and their importance for communication between science and practice was discussed.
In two lecture sessions, current results from completed projects were discussed and future research approaches and concepts from ongoing studies were presented. Possibilities for a more comprehensive survey of circadian disturbances by integrating the chronotype of Dr. Valerie Gross, MPH and Prof. Dr. Thomas Erren, MPH. Ms. Groß focused in particular on the possibilities and challenges of collecting the chronotype with short questions in epidemiological studies. Mr. Erren focused on the problem that circadian disturbances could be relevant not only on working days but also on days off and presented options for discussion of how this could be solved in studies in the future. Dr. Grit Müller presented a study on permanent night that is currently being carried out in cooperation with the IPA. In this context, the handling of resistance to shift changes was discussed in particular. Dr. Janice Hegewald, MSc. presented a research idea for future intervention studies on shift work and blue light, which was very positively received and discussed. Dr. Thomas Kantermann explained possible approaches for examining individual shift work tolerance in future studies, which were discussed intensively.
Two presentations contained the latest results from the IPA field study on shift work at the BG Klinikum Bergmannsheil in Bochum. Dr. Martin Lehnert presented the recently published study on vitamin D levels in shift workers. Dr. Sylvia Rabstein, Dipl.-Stat. showed current results on 24-hour blue light profiles and possible impairments of melatonin release at night and explained the core questions for the analysis of melanopically effective light exposure. Katharina Wichert presented the first results of an IPA study on potential associations between genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in melatonin biosynthesis and signaling pathways and breast cancer. This project, based on the extensive data collection of the International Breast Cancer Consortium (BCAC), aims to investigate the potential role of melatonin in the development of breast cancer in more detail.
Conclusion: The program of the workshop was characterized by a lively and constructive discussion between the different fields of occupational medicine, epidemiology, psychology and chronobiology. The potential impact of working time-related factors on health, especially for night workers, is very diverse. An intensification of the examination methods, such as the survey of circadian disturbances or light exposure, is necessary in the next few years in order to obtain results that can be put into practice.
Author: Sylvia Rabstein (employee at the IPA in Bochum)