IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i4p1929-d500621.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of the Thyroid Functions among Female Flight Attendants

Author

Listed:
  • Małgorzata Radowicka

    (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-015 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Anna Madej

    (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-015 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Bronisława Pietrzak

    (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-015 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Mirosław Wielgoś

    (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-015 Warsaw, Poland)

Abstract

Introduction: Epidemiological observations indicate that stewardesses are exposed to reproductive and endocrine system disturbances. The aim of the study was to assess of thyroid function disturbances as well as to identify factors affecting the thyroid function among stewardesses working both within one time zone and on long-distance flights. Material and methods: The cross-sectional study covered 103 women aged 23–46. The study group (I) was divided into two subgroups: group Ia comprising stewardesses flying within one flight zone and group Ib stewardesses working on long-distance flights. The control group (II) were women of reproductive age who sought medical assistance due to marital infertility in whom the male factor was found to be responsible for problems with conception in the course of the diagnostic process. The assessment included: age, BMI, menstrual cycle regularity, length of work, frequency of flying, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration, level of free thyroxine (fT4), antibodies to thyroglobulin (aTG) and to thyroperoxidase (aTPO), prolactin concentration, sex hormone binding globulin (SHGB) concentration, total cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein (LDL) fraction. Descriptive methods and inferential statistics methods were used to compile the data. Results: The difference between the concentrations of TSH in the study group (2.59 mcIU/mL) and the control group (1.52 mcIU/mL) was statistically significant ( p < 0.01). An elevated titer of thyroid antibodies (aTPO and/or aTG) was revealed in 46.3% of stewardesses and in 15.1% of patients from the control group ( p < 0.001). Groups Ia and Ib in individual concentrations were not statistically significant. The frequency of occurrence of an elevated titer of thyroid antibodies depended on the length of work in the study group ( p > 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in patients spending up to 60 h a month flying and in patients spending more than 60 h flying, the percentage of the occurrence of thyroid antibodies was 50% and 43.5, respectively. Conclusions: The occurrence in stewardesses of a higher TSH concentration than in the control group can signify that stewardesses are burdened with a higher risk of the development of hypothyroidism in the future. The character of the work of stewardesses (frequency of flying as well as length of work) does not affect the immunological profile of the thyroid.

Suggested Citation

  • Małgorzata Radowicka & Anna Madej & Bronisława Pietrzak & Mirosław Wielgoś, 2021. "Assessment of the Thyroid Functions among Female Flight Attendants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-8, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1929-:d:500621
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1929/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1929/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marta Szkiela & Ewa Kusideł & Teresa Makowiec-Dąbrowska & Dorota Kaleta, 2020. "Night Shift Work—A Risk Factor for Breast Cancer," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-12, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Łukasz Baka & Dawid Ścigała & Łukasz Kapica & Andrzej Najmiec & Krzysztof Grala, 2021. "How Is Work Ability Shaped in Groups of Shift and Non-Shift Workers? A Comprehensive Approach to Job Resources and Mediation Role of Emotions at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Deborah J. Bowen & Kelly E. Rentscher & Amy Wu & Gwen Darien & Helen Ghirmai Haile & Jeanne Mandelblatt & Marion Kavanaugh-Lynch, 2021. "Learning from and Leveraging Multi-Level Changes in Responses to the COVID 19 Pandemic to Facilitate Breast Cancer Prevention Efforts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Rahman Khan & Jean-Pierre Neveu & Ghulam Murtaza & Kashif Ullah Khan, 2022. "Impact of Psychological Resources on Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Positive Affect and Ego-Resilience," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    4. Marta Szkiela & Ewa Kusideł & Teresa Makowiec-Dąbrowska & Dorota Kaleta, 2021. "How the Intensity of Night Shift Work Affects Breast Cancer Risk," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-12, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1929-:d:500621. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.