Long working hours are associated with a higher risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A large population-based Korean cohort study

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common chronic liver disease, may progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure. But only a few cross-sectional studies have reported an association of NAFLD with working hours. This cohort study further examined the associa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2021-07, Vol.16 (7), p.e0255118-e0255118
Main Authors: Lee, Yesung, Mun, Eunchan, Park, Soyoung, Lee, Woncheol
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol use
Biology and Life Sciences
Blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease
Cholesterol
Cirrhosis
Cohort analysis
College graduates
Confidence intervals
Cross-sectional studies
Diabetes
Education
Environmental health
Fasting
Fatigue
Fatty liver
Fibrosis
Glucose
Health aspects
Health risks
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hospitals
Hypertension
Insulin resistance
Liver
Liver cirrhosis
Liver diseases
Medical screening
Medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metabolic syndrome
Obesity
Population studies
Population-based studies
Questionnaires
Research and Analysis Methods
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Social Sciences
Ultrasonic imaging
Womens health
Work hours
Workers
Working hours
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Summary:Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common chronic liver disease, may progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure. But only a few cross-sectional studies have reported an association of NAFLD with working hours. This cohort study further examined the association between working hours and the development of NAFLD. We included 79,048 Korean adults without NAFLD at baseline who underwent a comprehensive health examination and categorized weekly working hours into 35-40, 41-52, 53-60, and >60 hours. NAFLD was defined as the presence of fatty liver, in the absence of excessive alcohol use, as observed by ultrasound. During a median follow-up of 6.6 years, 15,095 participants developed new-onset NAFLD (incidence rate, 5.55 per 100 person-years). After adjustment for confounders, the hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for the development of NAFLD in 41-52, 53-60, and >60 working hours compared with that in 35-40 working hours were 1.07 (1.02-1.13), 1.06 (1.00-1.13), and 1.13 (1.05-1.23), respectively. Furthermore, the association remained significant after confounders were treated as time-varying covariates. In this large-scale cohort, long working hours, especially >60 working hours a week, were independently associated with incident NAFLD. Our findings indicate that long working hours are a risk factor for NAFLD.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0255118