Psychosocial Stress in Nurses With Shift Work Schedule Is Associated With Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of psychosocial problems and their associations with rotating shift work in the development of functional gastrointestinal disorders. METHODS: In this cross-sectional observation study, survey was administered to nurses and nurse assistants in a referral hospital. In addition to demographic questions, subjects were asked to complete the Rome III Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Rome III Psychosocial Alarm Questionnaire. RESULTS: Responses from 301 subjects were assessed. The overall prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia (FD) were 15.0% and 19.6%, respectively. Psychosocial alarms were prevalent in the nursing personnel (74.8% with alarm presence and 23.3% with serious condition) and were more frequent among rotating shift workers (84.7% vs. 74.5% for alarm presence and 28.1% vs. 13.3% for serious condition). The prevalence of both IBS and FD significantly increased with psychosocial risk. An independent risk factor for IBS was serious psychosocial alarm (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 10.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.30–88.99; P = 0.028). Serious psychosocial alarm was an independent risk factor for FD (aOR, 7.84; 95% CI, 1.98–31.02; P = 0.003). Marriage (aOR 0.30; 95% CI, 0.09–0.93; P = 0.037) was associated with the decreased risk of FD. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of psychosocial stress among nurses who work rotating shifts is associated with the development of functional gastrointestinal disorders.