Cohort study of 910 Chinese nurses links mental health, night shifts to metabolic disease trajectories

This cohort study followed 910 nurses in China from 2018 to 2022 to examine the relationship between lifestyle, night shift patterns, mental health, and trajectories of metabolic diseases. The study identified three distinct metabolic disease trajectories: Maintaining-Low, Chronically-High, and a Maintaining-Low group. The analysis compared these groups to the Maintaining-Low reference group.

The main findings show that, compared to the Maintaining-Low group, correlates of the Chronically-High trajectory included a lack of dietary preference for vegetables and lack of exercise. Among nurses who started with a high initial health level, the increase in the number of metabolic diseases was correlated with mental health factors and night shift patterns, rather than unhealthy lifestyles. Specific mental health correlates included low depression scores and high anxiety scores, alongside a night shift pattern associated with a slow increase in metabolic diseases. Exact numbers, effect sizes, and statistical significance for these associations were not reported.

This is an observational cohort study, meaning it can only show associations, not causation. Key limitations include the lack of reported effect sizes and statistical measures, and the findings may not be generalizable beyond the specific population of Chinese nurses. Safety and tolerability data were not reported. For practice, these findings highlight potential modifiable risk factors in a high-stress profession but require confirmation with more rigorous study designs.