Association of Chronotype and Shiftwork with COVID-19 Infection

Stuart F Quan; Matthew D Weaver; Mark É Czeisler; Laura K Barger; Lauren A Booker; Mark E Howard; Melinda L Jackson; Rashon I Lane; Christine F McDonald; Anna Ridgers; Rebecca Robbins; Prerna Varma; Shantha M W Rajaratnam; Charles A Czeisler

doi:10.1101/2023.07.06.23292337

Association of Chronotype and Shiftwork with COVID-19 Infection

medRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Jul 8:2023.07.06.23292337. doi: 10.1101/2023.07.06.23292337.

Authors

Stuart F Quan^{1

2}, Matthew D Weaver^{1

2}, Mark É Czeisler^{3

4

5}, Laura K Barger^{1

2}, Lauren A Booker^{5

6}, Mark E Howard^{5

7

8}, Melinda L Jackson^{4

5}, Rashon I Lane¹, Christine F McDonald^{5

8

9

10}, Anna Ridgers^{5

9

8}, Rebecca Robbins^{1

2}, Prerna Varma⁴, Shantha M W Rajaratnam^{1

4

5

2}, Charles A Czeisler^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
² Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
³ Francis Weld Peabody Society, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
⁴ School of Psychological Sciences, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ University Department of Rural Health, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
⁸ Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁹ Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁰ Faculty of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne Australia.

Abstract

Objective: This study assesses whether chronotype is related to COVID-19 infection and whether there is an interaction with shift work.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 19,821 U.S. adults.

Results: COVID-19 infection occurred in 40% of participants, 32.6% morning and 17.2% evening chronotypes. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, shift work, sleep duration and comorbidities, morning chronotype was associated with a higher (aOR: 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.21) and evening chronotype with a lower (aOR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.78-0.87) prevalence of COVID-19 infection in comparison to an intermediate chronotype. Working exclusively night shifts was not associated with higher prevalence of COVID-19. Morning chronotype and working some evening shifts was associated with the highest prevalence of previous COVID-19 infection (aOR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.28-2.74).

Conclusion: Morning chronotype and working a mixture of shifts increase risk of COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Shift work; chronotype; diurnal preference.

Publication types

Preprint

Abstract

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