Women who quit smoking and work nights are more than twice as likely to have insulin resistance as women who quit smoking and work regular days—meaning quitting smoking alone may not be enough if you still work irregular hours.
Evidence from Studies
No evidence studies found yet.
What Would Prove This
Per GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this claim, ordered from strongest to weakest.
Whether the interaction between smoking cessation and shift work consistently increases insulin resistance across populations.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting ORs for insulin resistance by smoking status (never, former, current) and shift work, with interaction term analysis in female populations.
Whether assigning former smokers to shift work increases insulin resistance more than assigning them to day work.
A 6-month RCT in 120 former female smokers (quit ≥2 years), aged 35–55, randomized to 3 months of night shifts vs. day work, measuring TyG index, leptin, and cortisol before and after transition.
Whether former smokers who begin shift work develop insulin resistance faster than those who remain day workers.
A 7-year prospective cohort of 1,000 former female smokers aged 30–50, tracking work schedule changes and TyG index, adjusting for weight gain, alcohol use, and sleep duration.
Whether women with insulin resistance are more likely to be former smokers who work shifts than other combinations.
A matched case-control study of 300 women with high TyG index and 300 controls, comparing smoking history and shift work exposure, testing for interaction between former smoking and shift work.
The strength of association between shift work and insulin resistance among former smokers at a single time point.
A cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative sample of Korean women, stratifying by smoking status and work schedule, as performed in this study.