• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 2021

Objectives : Shift work has been known to cause various health problems by making it difficult for humans to adapt to their natural circadian rhythms. In particular, shift workers tend to complain of sleep difficulties associated with work schedules, and sometimes use alcohol as a self-medication to induce sleep. To date, no clear mechanism has been identified regarding the link between shift work and sleep, between shift work and drinking. This study aims to confirm the relationship between shift work and sleep, and to analyze whether the change in sleep caused by shift work causes drinking. Methods : This study included 11360 people (5704 men and 5656 women) among the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey data in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The work type between 6am-6pm was defined as day work, and other work types were defined as shift work. Using logistic regression analysis, the relationship between shift work and sleep quality, shift work and high risk drinking, drinking amount at 1 time, drinking frequency were analyzed. In addition, we analyzed whether sleep mediates the relationship between shift work and drinking using mediated analysis. Results : Shift work showed a significant negative relationship with sleep quality in men and women (male OR=1.37, 95% CI 1.11-1.70, female OR=1.26, 95% CI=1.05-1.50). There was no significant relationship between shift work and alcohol in the case of men, but in the case of women, there was a significant positive relationship between shift work and the number of alcohol consumption (OR=1.34, 95% CI=1.04-1.72). When mediation analysis was conducted, it was found that women's sleep quality partially mediated the relationship between shift work and the frequency of drinking. Conclusions : The results of this study suggest that shift work causes sleep difficulties, and in the case of women, drinking can be induced through the partial mediating effect of sleep. Considering that women are more likely to choose drinking as a coping method for sleep problems, more active interventions for female shift workers are needed.