ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Radiation Research and Applications: Biology, Environment and MedicineView all 19 articles
Morbidity burden and sleep disorders risk and in occupational radiation-exposed workers: A cross-sectional study of 1,089 participants in southern China
Provisionally accepted
Hai-bo HuangYi-wei SuShi-feng HouYan zhangWang-feng ZhangJian-wei LiaoCi-jian WuZhi Wang
Jian-yu Wang*- GuangZhou Twelfth People's Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Background: Occupational radiation exposure poses unique health challenges, with emerging 11 evidence suggesting links between chronic low-dose exposure, multisystem morbidity, and sleep 12 disturbances. This study examines relationship between accumulating morbidity burden and sleep 13 disorder risk among radiation-exposed workers in southern China. 14 Methods: A cross-sectional investigation was conducted from January to December 2024 at 15 Guangzhou Twelfth People's Hospital. Morbidity burden was assessed through 16 physician-diagnosed conditions classified by ICD-10 codes across 7 disease categories. Sleep 17 disorders were identified via a study-specific questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression 18 models adjusted for demographic, occupational, and lifestyle confounders quantified 19 morbidity-sleep disorder associations. Subgroup analyses evaluated effect modification by sex, 20 service duration, and profession. 21 Results: A consecutive sample of 1,089 radiation workers underwent comprehensive health 22 evaluations. Sleep disorders affected 33.0% of participants. A graded dose-response relationship 23 emerged: workers with one morbidity exhibited 2.28-fold higher sleep disorder risk 24 (95%CI:1.68–3.10) versus those without comorbidities. Risk escalated to OR=2.89 (1.97–4.25) 25 for two morbidities and OR=3.81 (2.42–6.01) for ≥3 morbidities after full adjustment. Subgroup 26 stratification revealed significantly stronger associations in females (OR=3.97, 1.94–8.42), 27 workers with ≤15 years' service (OR=4.24, 1.97–9.38), and biomedical engineers (OR=5.75, 28 2.38–14.33). Thyroid, respiratory, cardiovascular, and lens opacity prevalence differed 29 substantially between sleep-disordered and unaffected workers. 30 Conclusion: Accumulating morbidity burden demonstrates a robust, occupationally modulated 31 association with sleep disorder risk in radiation workers. Biomedical engineers, females, and 32 early-career personnel represent high-risk subgroups warranting targeted screening and preventive 33 interventions.
Keywords: Occupational radiation exposure, Morbidity burden, Sleep Disorders, Cross-sectional study, China
Received: 16 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Su, Hou, zhang, Zhang, Liao, Wu, Wang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jian-yu Wang
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