Shift work and its complications: A case study in the security personnel of a refinery complex

Shift work is one of the inevitable consequences of technology in which in the recent years numerous studies have been done about its effect on health. Somatic, psychological and social disturbances are among the problems that are seen more in people with shift work than other people. The current study aims to determine the prevalence of these disturbances in one of the LPG and gas refinery complex, oil companies. This cross-sectional case-control study was carried out at 180 shift-work people as case group and 90 day-work people as control group at the security section of the oil refinery company. Data of shift workers were collected with Survey of Shift workers (SOS) questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of questions on demographic characteristics and health problems associated with shift work. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Ver.19 at a significance level of 5%. The mean (SD) of shift working and day-work workers were estimated to be 41 ± 4.8 and 39 ± 4.1 years, respectively. The results showed that health problems shift-workers were more prevalent than day-work workers. The differences were significant in gastrointestinal disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and fatigue (P < 0.05). According to the result of this study, shift work can be a risk factor for the incidence of somatic and psychological disturbances. Initiatives should be implemented to prevent these complications in shift workers.