Presenter Biography
I am a junior majoring in Public Health Studies: Pre-Clinical Health Sciences on the Pre-Medical track. I have worked in the Nicole P. Bowles lab at the OHSU Oregon Occupational Health Sciences Institute for the past two years, where my primary focus has been circadian blood pressure oscillation and shift work in firefighters.
Institution
PSU
Program/Major
Public Health Studies: Pre-Clinical Health Sciences
Degree
BS
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-4-2024 1:00 PM
Abstract
Background: Firefighters have an increased risk of cardiometabolic disease compared to the general population. Blunted blood pressure (BP) dipping during nocturnal sleep is associated with increased cardiometabolic disease morbidity/mortality. Shift work can alter diurnal BP oscillation, but the extent of alteration by different schedules remains debated. No study to date has examined firefighting shift schedules, necessitating a longitudinal evaluation to begin to understand their implications for cardiometabolic health. Thus, this preliminary analysis compares how two common schedules (24/48 hours on/off vs. 1/3/2/3 days on/off) impact post-shift BP and dipping in 20 firefighters.
Methods: 20 participants (10% female; 25-54 years of age; mean body mass index 28.74 ± 3.51 kg/m2) were randomly selected as a preliminary subset from 122 participants in the parent study. Participants completed 24-48 hours of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) when off-shift following two schedules: (1) an established 24/48; (2) 2-3 months post adopting a 1/3/2/3. Participants provided their time in and out of bed; the difference was calculated as “sleep” time. All other time was considered “wake”. 48-hour averages for sleep and wake BP were used to calculate systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) dipping. Linear mixed models were used for analyses of changes in SBP and DBP.
Results: In 20 participants, average sleep SBP increased by 3.46 ± 1.18 mmHg (p
Discussion: These preliminary findings suggest that the 1/3/2/3 schedule increases sleep SBP and blunts SBP dipping relative to 24/48. The remaining sample will be analyzed to reproduce these findings and to examine the mediating role of accumulated sleep on- and off-shift prior to recordings.
Keywords: shift work, firefighters, blood pressure, dipping, circadian science
Included in
Impact of Two Shift Schedules on Post-Shift Blood Pressure in Firefighters
Background: Firefighters have an increased risk of cardiometabolic disease compared to the general population. Blunted blood pressure (BP) dipping during nocturnal sleep is associated with increased cardiometabolic disease morbidity/mortality. Shift work can alter diurnal BP oscillation, but the extent of alteration by different schedules remains debated. No study to date has examined firefighting shift schedules, necessitating a longitudinal evaluation to begin to understand their implications for cardiometabolic health. Thus, this preliminary analysis compares how two common schedules (24/48 hours on/off vs. 1/3/2/3 days on/off) impact post-shift BP and dipping in 20 firefighters.
Methods: 20 participants (10% female; 25-54 years of age; mean body mass index 28.74 ± 3.51 kg/m2) were randomly selected as a preliminary subset from 122 participants in the parent study. Participants completed 24-48 hours of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) when off-shift following two schedules: (1) an established 24/48; (2) 2-3 months post adopting a 1/3/2/3. Participants provided their time in and out of bed; the difference was calculated as “sleep” time. All other time was considered “wake”. 48-hour averages for sleep and wake BP were used to calculate systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) dipping. Linear mixed models were used for analyses of changes in SBP and DBP.
Results: In 20 participants, average sleep SBP increased by 3.46 ± 1.18 mmHg (p
Discussion: These preliminary findings suggest that the 1/3/2/3 schedule increases sleep SBP and blunts SBP dipping relative to 24/48. The remaining sample will be analyzed to reproduce these findings and to examine the mediating role of accumulated sleep on- and off-shift prior to recordings.
Keywords: shift work, firefighters, blood pressure, dipping, circadian science