TUESDAY, Dec. 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Night shifts and poor sleep quality are associated with an increased risk for incident epilepsy, according to a study published online Nov. 29 in _BMC Public Health_.
Xushuai Dong, from the Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University in Jinan, China, and colleagues examined whether there is a positive association between night shift work, sleep quality, sleep behaviors, and the risk for epilepsy in a study including 270,000 individuals with or without epilepsy from the U.K. Biobank followed over 13.5 years.
The researchers observed a positive association for night shift work with a higher risk for epilepsy. A gradual increase was seen in epilepsy risk from never/rarely to usual/permanent night shift work; the highest risk was seen for usual/permanent night shift work (hazard ratio, 1.29). Sleep quality was also significantly associated with the risk for epilepsy. A higher risk for epilepsy was seen in association with sleep duration (less than seven or more than eight hours/day), frequent insomnia, and daytime sleepiness (hazard ratios, 1.19, 1.19, and 1.46, respectively). A U-shaped association was seen for sleep duration with epilepsy risk. No significant association was found between sleep chronotype and snoring and incident epilepsy risk.
"In conclusion, our study suggests a positive association between current night shift work, sleep quality, and risk of epilepsy," the authors write. "These insights have significant implications for primary prevention strategies for epilepsy in public health."
[Abstract/Full Text](https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-024-20885-z)