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. 2021 Aug 4;21(1):280.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-021-01407-0.

Association between sleep quality and central obesity among southern Chinese reproductive-aged women

Bingbing Li  1   2 , Nan Liu  1 , Donghui Guo  3 , Bo Li  1 , Yan Liang  4 , Lingling Huang  5 , Xiaoxiao Wang  2 , Zhenzhen Su  1 , Guozeng Zhang  6 , Peixi Wang  7   8
Affiliations

Association between sleep quality and central obesity among southern Chinese reproductive-aged women

Bingbing Li et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: The connections between sleep quality and central obesity among reproductive-aged women are not clear. The study aimed to explore the association between sleep quality and central obesity among Chinese reproductive-aged women and identify the independent contributions of sociodemographic characteristics, health-related factors, and sleep quality to central obesity.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, the minimal sample sizes were 2404 subjects; 2449 Chinese women aged 18-49 participated in this study. Sleep quality was assessed by the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Central obesity as the outcome of interest was a binary variable; women were categorized as with versus without central obesity measured by waist circumference (WC). The independent contribution of sociodemographic characteristics (Cluster 1), health-related variables (Cluster 2), and sleep quality (Cluster 3) to central obesity was derived from the corresponding R2 change (individual R2 change/total R2 × 100%), using clustered multiple logistic regression analyses.

Results: The risk of central obesity increased significantly with poor sleep quality (assessed by global PSQI score) [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.20 per SD increase; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.28-3.78; P = 0.004], increased sleep disturbance score (adjusted OR = 1.11 per SD increase; 95% CI = 1.01-1.22; P = 0.042) and decreased subjective sleep quality score (adjusted OR = 0.81 per SD increase; 95% CI = 0.73-0.90; P < 0.001). The independent contribution of sleep quality was 9.9%, less than those of sociodemographic (73.3%) and health-related (16.8%) variables. Among complaints related to sleep disturbance, the inability to breathe comfortably, and having bad dreams showed significant associations with central obesity.

Conclusions: There exists some degree of correlation between sleep quality and central obesity among Chinese reproductive-aged women. These findings underscore the need for future public health guidelines to formulate some detailed strategies to improve sleep quality, such as preventing and intervening risk factors that influence sleep quality and suggesting optimal sleep duration, which might effectively reduce the incidence of central obesity in this population group.

Keywords: Central obesity; Chinese; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Reproductive-aged women; Sleep quality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The clustered multiple logistic regression model and multi-directional associations (the direction of the impact is indicated by the direction of the arrows)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Comparisons of the prevalence of central obesity in participants with sleep disturbances. **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05, after adjustment for sociodemographic variables in Cluster 1 and health-related variables in Cluster 2; (a) ≥ 1 time a week compared with not in the past month, P = 0.001; ≥ 1 time a week compared with < once a week, P = 0.003; (b) occurred in the past month compared with not in the past month, P = 0.040
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