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Abstract
Night shift work is now a recognised risk factor for type 2 diabetes, however it remains unknown what specific night shift schedules (both number of night shifts per week and duration of doing night shift work) might put people at highest risk for type 2 diabetes. In addition, it is unclear whether night shift work affects people differently depending on their genetic profile for type 2 diabetes risk. Our study in the UK Biobank addressed these two questions. Our results first showed that rotating shifts comprised of both day and night shifts, including frequent night shifts, were linked to the highest chance of having type 2 diabetes. We found that working more than 2 night shifts per month increased the chance of having type 2 diabetes by 36% compared to working day work only. In addition, we found that the type 2 diabetes risk attributed to night shift work was the same regardless of an individual s genetic profile, suggesting that the risk caused by night shift work is consistent across people with different genetic makeup for type 2 diabetes risk.