Shift Work: A Risk Factor for Central Serous Chorioretinopathy

Purpose To investigate if shift work or sleep disturbances are risk factors for central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). Design Prospective case-control study. Methods Forty patients with active CSCR and 40 controls (age- and sex-matched) were prospectively recruited from the Ophthalmology Department of Hotel Dieu Hospital, Paris, between November 2013 and December 2014. All patients were asked to complete a questionnaire addressing previously described risk factors and working hours, as well as the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), a validated instrument for assessing sleep disturbances. Results The mean age of the CSCR group was 44 ± 9 years, whereas the mean age of the control group was 43 ± 10 years. By use of multivariate analysis, shift work (odds ratio [OR] [95% confidence interval]: 5 [1.2–20.4]; P  = .02), steroid use (OR: 5.5 [1.1–26.2]; P  = .03), and recent psychological stress (OR: 15.3 [4.1–54.5]; P Conclusion The outcomes of this study suggest that shift work is an independent risk factor of CSCR. Further studies are required to confirm these results and to examine if work reconversion would be beneficial in the treatment of patients with chronic/recurrent CSCR.