ArticleThorax2021
Night shift work is associated with an increased risk of asthma.
Article in Thorax, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 64 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Nutrition Interventions for Shift Workers, With Subgroup Analysis of First Responder Populations.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026Pooled it
- Influence of light at night on allergic diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Chronotype in Patients With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease: A Systematic Review.Journal of biological rhythms · 2023Pooled it
- The club cell circadian clock regulates temporal patterns in leukocyte trafficking in chronic allergic airways disease.Mucosal immunology · 2026Article
- PER1-related inflammatory signaling links night shift exposure to lower lung function in coal miners.iScience · 2026Article
- The importance of meal timing for maintenance of daily rhythms in the gut transcriptome and microbiota.Npj biological timing and sleep · 2026Article
- Working against the clock: the impact of shift patterns on cognitive function, mental health, and stimulant use among healthcare workers.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Cryptochrome Loss Drives COPD-like Lung Pathology through Disrupted Alveolar Epithelial Proliferation and Immune Homeostasis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Unhealthy sleep patterns and irregular night shift work are associated with increased risk of allergic rhinitis: a large prospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Associations between shift work patterns and sleep disturbance: an analysis of cross-sectional data from UK Biobank.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Circadian clock regulation in lung health and disease: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities.EXCLI journal · 2026Review
- Melatonin suppresses ILC2-driven airway hyperreactivity via glutathione-dependent metabolic reprogramming.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- The Role of BMAL1 in Regulating Circadian Rhythms During Airway Remodeling in Asthma.Journal of immunology research · 2026Review
- Increased risk of asthma in female night shift workers.ERJ open research · 2025Article
- Circadian Clock Disruption and Non-type 2 Asthma: A Hypothesis-Driven Perspective on Immune, Epithelial, and Steroid Response.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2025Review
- The Association Between Shift Work, Sleep Quality, and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Workers in the Logistics Industry.Journal of community health · 2025Article
- Circadian clock gene expression: a key player in inflammation underlying chronic lung disease?ERJ open research · 2025Article
- The molecular circadian clock of eosinophils: a potential therapeutic target for asthma.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2025Article
- Night Shift Work Associates with All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Large Prospective Cohort Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Association between higher morning preference and better health-related quality of life in asthma.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. Global · 2025Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedCorrection:2023
Authors and funding
14 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionShift work causes misalignment between internal circadian time and the external light/dark cycle and is associated with metabolic disorders and cancer. Approximately 20% of the working population in industrialised countries work permanent or rotating night shifts, exposing this large population to the risk of circadian misalignment-driven disease. Analysis of the impact of shift work on chronic inflammatory diseases is lacking. We investigated the association between shift work and asthma.
methodsWe describe the cross-sectional relationship between shift work and prevalent asthma in >280000 UK Biobank participants, making adjustments for major confounding factors (smoking history, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, physical activity, body mass index). We also investigated chronotype.
resultsCompared with day workers, 'permanent' night shift workers had a higher likelihood of moderate-severe asthma (OR 1.36 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.8)) and all asthma (OR 1.23 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.46)). Individuals doing any type of shift work had higher adjusted odds of wheeze/whistling in the chest. Shift workers who never or rarely worked on nights and people working permanent nights had a higher adjusted likelihood of having reduced lung function (FEV
conclusionsThe public health implications of these findings are far-reaching due to the high prevalence and co-occurrence of both asthma and shift work. Future longitudinal follow-up studies are needed to determine if modifying shift work schedules to take into account chronotype might present a public health measure to reduce the risk of developing inflammatory diseases such as asthma.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.