Saf Health Work.
2020 Jun;11(2):178-186. 10.1016/j.shaw.2020.02.004.
Work Hours and Cognitive Function: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
- Affiliations
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- 1Bioanalytics Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV, USA
- 2Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- 3Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
- 4Departments of Family Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- 5Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
- KMID: 2504290
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2020.02.004
Abstract
- Background
Cognitive impairment is a public health burden. Our objective was to investigate associations between work hours and cognitive function.
Methods
Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants (n = 2,497; 50.7% men; age range 44 e84 years) reported hours per week worked in all jobs in Exams 1 (2000e2002), 2 (2002e2004), 3 (2004 e2005), and 5 (2010e2011). Cognitive function was assessed (Exam 5) using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (version 2), a measure of global cognitive functioning; the Digit Symbol Coding, a measure of processing speed; and the Digit Span test, a measure of attention and working memory. We used a prospective approach and linear regression to assess associations for every 10 hours of work.
Results
Among all participants, associations of hours worked with cognitive function of any type were not statistically significant. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.051), longer work hours were associated with poorer global cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers, after adjustment for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, race/ethnicity, educational level, annual income, history of heart attack, diabetes, apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 allele (ApoE4) status, birth-place, number of years in the United States, language spoken at MESA Exam 1, and work hours at Exam 5 (b = e0.55, 95% CI = e0.99, e0.09) and (b = e0.80, e1.51, e0.09), respectively. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.040), we also observed an inverse association with processing speed among blue-collar workers (adjusted b = e0.80, e1.52, e0.07). Sex, race/ethnicity, and ApoE4 did not significantly modify associations between work hours and cognitive function.
Conclusion
Weak inverse associations were observed between work hours and cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers.
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