Korean J Fam Pract.  2021 Oct;11(5):379-384. 10.21215/kjfp.2021.11.5.379.

Association between Sleep Duration and Anemia in Korean Adults: A Nationwide PopulationBased Study

• Shin JH
• Nam GE
• Park CM
• Kim W
• Kim YH
• Cho KH

• KMID: 2521443
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2021.11.5.379

Abstract

Background
The development of anemia in adults is multifactorial. This study evaluated the association between sleep duration and anemia in Korean adults.
Methods
We used the data of 8,205 Korean adults aged between 19 and 64 years from the 2016–2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Anemia was defined as blood hemoglobin level lower than 13.0 g/dL in men and 12.0 g/dL in women. We performed multivariable logistic regression analysis to examine the association between sleep duration and anemia prevalence.
Results
The prevalence of anemia in Korean adults was 1.6% in men and 12.0% in women. In univariate logistic regression analysis, men with anemia were older, had a higher C-reactive protein level, lower body mass index, and a lower proportion of those who were smoking at the time of the study than men without anemia. Women with anemia were younger and had a lower body mass index than women without anemia. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that a sleep duration of less than five hours was associated with higher odds of anemia in men. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for anemia in men who slept for less than five hours was 3.885 (1.372–11.005) after adjusting for potential confounding variables such as age, body mass index, C-reactive protein, smoking status, and residential area (P-value=0.011).
Conclusion
From this study, using a nationally representative database, we found that a sleep duration of less than five hours is associated with higher prevalence of anemia in Korean men. This suggests that appropriate sleep duration should be considered to prevent anemia in Korean men.

Keyword

Sleep Duration; Anemia; Adults; Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey