An association between cumulative exposure to light at night and the prevalence of hyperuricemia in steel workers

Abstract

Objectives Exposure to light at night (LAN) can disturb circadian endocrine and metabolic rhythms. Hyperuricemia (HUA) is an early-onset metabolic disorder. However, it is still not clear whether LAN exposure increases the prevalence of HUA. Material and Methods The authors used crosssectional data on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei occupational populations cohort from March–July 2017. A total of 7664 steel workers were finally selected to investigate the relationship between LAN exposure and the prevalence of HUA among steel workers. The authors collected demographic and socio-economic data, as well as information on lifestyle factors, anthropometric measures, and laboratory tests. The restricted cubic spline method was used to analyze the dose-response relationship between cumulative LAN exposure and the prevalence of HUA. Logistic regression analyses were used to fit the relationship between them. Results The average age of the participants was 43.5±8.6 years; 7051 (91.7%) of them were males, 2749 (35.9%) reported to suffer from HUA, and 1241 (16.2%) were not exposed to LAN. There was a significant non-linear dose-response relationship between them. After adjustment for the confounding factors, including demographic data, lifestyle factors, etc., the lower LAN exposure was significantly associated with HUA (0–1931.7 days, OR = 1.180, and the 95% CI: 1.000–1.394; 1931.7–4343 days, OR = 1.215, 95% CI: 1.035–1.426). Conclusions This study revealed that a certain amount of exposure to LAN is independently related to the prevalence of HUA in steel workers in China. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2021;34(3):385–401

Keywords

• uric acid
• circadian rhythms
• hyperuricemia
• steel workers
• light at night
• restricted cubic spline