Atherogenic Risk in Shift Versus Non-Shift Workers: Associations with Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors

<b>Introduction.</b> Atherosclerosis is the histopathological lesion underlying most cardiovascular diseases. Several scales assess the risk of developing atherosclerosis, with the most recognized being atherogenic dyslipidemia (AD) and atherogenic indices (AIs). The aim of this study is to assess the associations between shift work, sociodemographic variables, and lifestyle with atherogenic risk, as determined by atherogenic indices, atherogenic dyslipidemia, and the lipid triad. <b>Material and Methods.</b> This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study involving 53,053 workers (28,808 shift workers and 24,245 non-shift workers) from various autonomous communities in Spain and multiple occupational sectors. The association between sociodemographic variables such as age, sex, and socioeconomic status, health habits including tobacco and alcohol consumption, physical activity (PA), adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), and shift work with the presence of AD and high values of three AIs (Cholesterol/HDL-c, LDL-c/HDL-c, and Triglycerides/HDL-c) were assessed. <b>Results.</b> All variables analyzed were associated with AD and AIs values. Among the variables, the strongest associations were observed for physical activity, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 7.70 (95% CI: 6.86-8.55) for high LDL-c/HDL-c to 14.10 (95% CI: 9.05-14.16) for AD; adherence to the Mediterranean diet, with ORs ranging from 1.98 (95% CI: 1.60-2.37) for high LDL-c/HDL-c to 5.89 (95% CI: 4.92-6.86) for AD; and age, with ORs of 2.11 (95% CI: 1.84-2.38) for high Triglycerides/HDL-c and 4.66 (95% CI: 4.04-5.28) for high Total Cholesterol/HDL-c. <b>Conclusions.</b> The profile of a worker with the highest atherogenic risk in our study is a male, older in age, with low socioeconomic status, a smoker, a habitual alcohol consumer, physically inactive, with low adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and engaged in shift work.