Association Between Sleep Quality And Duration In Adulthood And Exposure To Chinese Great Famine In Early Life: A Retrospective Study In The Male Population

Study background: The 1959-1961 Chinese Great Famine lasting around 3 years.Many findings suggested that exposure to Chinese Great Famine in early life was related to elevated risk of diabetes,hypertension,schizophrenia and Metabolic Syndrome in adulthood.However,insomnia is common in the general population in modern society.It was estimated that range from 10% to 50% adulthood suffer from insomnia.But few study has examined the Chinese Great Famine effects in early life on the risk of sleep disturbances.It remains uncertain whether early life exposure to famine increases the risk of sleep in adulthood.Here,we evaluate the hypothesis that fetal and/or early postnatal malnutrition during critical growth phases may lead to poor sleep quality and decrease sleep duration.Method: This study retrospectively analyzed 4208 males aged 47 or older in Shanghai,and Fujian Province.The marital status,educational level,physical activity,drinking situation,smoking status,height,weight,body mass index(BMI),physical illness and recent stimulus were investigated by face-to-face questionnaire.Individuals were categorized into six cohorts: non-exposed cohort,fetal-exposed cohort,early-childhood–exposed cohort,mid-childhood-exposed cohort,late–childhood-exposed cohort and puberty-exposed cohort,Differences between categories.were analyzed by the Student’s t test and chi-square test,and assess the association between the exposed cohorts and the non-exposed cohort were tested by logistic regression models and linear regression models with and without adjustments for potential confounders.Results: In total,4208 men participated in face-to-face interview.The prevalences of poor sleep among adults in non-,fetal-,and early-childhood-,Mid-childhood-,and late-childhood-,and puberty-exposed cohorts were 9.3%,12.3%,9.8%,10.0%,11.2%,10.0%,respectively.Mean of sleep duration among adults in non-,fetal-,and early-childhood-,Mid-childhood-,and late-childhood-,and puberty-exposed cohorts were 7.76±1.44,7.85±1.53,7.76±1.57,7.89±1.60,7.97±1.54,7.84±1.60,respectively.Compared with non-exposed individuals,famine exposure during the fetal/infant period(OR1.44;95% CI 0.94 to 2.20),early-childhood(OR1.04;95% CI 0.85 to 1.28),mid-childhood(OR1.03;95%CI 0.90 to 1.19),late-childhood(OR1.07;95% CI 0.96 to 1.19),puberty(OR1.06;95% CI 0.99 to 1.14)was not associated with poor sleep quality after adjusting for marriage,education level,physical activity,physical illness,drinker,smoker and hit.That is,there were no statistically significant differences in sleep quality between participants exposed and unexposed to famine during critical growth stages.The B value(standard error)among adults in non-,fetal-,and early-childhood-,Mid-childhood-,and late-childhood-,and puberty-exposed cohorts were 0.084(0.099)、-0.035(0.046)、0.005(0.032)、0.01(0.024)、-0.144(0.083),respectively and P value were 0.396、0.445、0.872、0.683、0.084,respectively.That is,there were no statistically significant differences in sleep duration between participants exposed and unexposed to famine during critical growth stages.Conclusion: The results of the current study indicate that critical growth stages exposure to famine is not associated with poor sleep quality.Whether early life exposure to famine has effects on sleep quality or not require more research.