Relationship of work-related stress with obesity among Brazilian female shift workers

Objectives: To explore the relationship between work-related stress and obesity among female shift workers. Additionally, we also aimed to test the interaction between shift work and work-related stress in this association. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Brazilian female shift workers. Work-related stress was assessed through a demand-control questionnaire (Job Stress Scale). Work-related stress was defined by the presence of high psychological demands and low control at work. The obesity cases were defined as those with a BMI of 30 kg/m(2) or more. Multivariate Poisson regression with robust variance was used to obtain the prevalence ratios (PR) and their respective 95 % CI. Setting: A group of industries located in southern Brazil in 2017. Participants: Four hundred and twenty female workers aged 18-59 years. Results: The overall prevalence of obesity was 30 % (95 % CI: 25.6, 34.4), and the presence of work-related stress was identified in 24 % (95 % CI: 19.9, 28.1) of the sample. We found an indication of interaction between work-related stress and night shift work on obesity (P = 0.026). After adjusting for confounding factors, work-related stress was associated with a 71 % greater probability of obesity (PR = 1.71; 95 % CI: 1.02, 2.87; P = 0.042) among female night shift workers. Conclusions: In this study, we revealed that exposure to work-related stress and night shift work were associated with obesity among female shift workers. Furthermore, the prevalence of obesity was high among female shift workers.