Night shift work linked to a higher risk of long COVID
The first evidence that night work and chronic insomnia may increase the risk of developing long COVID comes from a new study led by ISGlobal, a center supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, in collaboration with the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) through the GCAT | Genomes for Life cohort.
A new study has revealed a link between working night shifts and an increased risk of developing long COVID, a condition characterized by persistent symptoms following a COVID-19 infection. Researchers from ISGlobal and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute analyzed data from 2,941 adults in Catalonia who participated in the COVICAT cohort between 2021 and 2023.
Among the 1,899 individuals who contracted SARS-CoV-2, 284 went on to develop long COVID during a two-year follow-up period. The study found that night shift workers had an 88% higher risk of developing long COVID compared to day workers, with this risk further amplified in those with obesity. Chronic insomnia also heightened the risk of long COVID by 42%, and when both night shift work and chronic insomnia were present, the risk of long COVID was 2.7 times higher than in day workers without insomnia.
The researchers noted that these findings emphasize the importance of healthy sleep habits in preventing long COVID and other post-acute infectious syndromes.
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