Association of long-term exposure to air pollution with chronic sleep deprivation in South Korea: A community-level longitudinal study, 2008-2018.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Although there are many findings about the effects of fine particulate matter (PM) and sleep deprivation on health respectively, the association between PM and chronic sleep deprivation has rarely been investigated. Thus, we aimed to investigate this association using a nationwide survey in South Korea.

METHOD

We examined the association between long-term exposure to PM and chronic sleep deprivation using a national cross-sectional health survey covering the entire 226 districts in inland South Korea from 2008 to 2018, with a machine learning-based national air pollution prediction model with 1 km spatial resolution.

RESULTS

Chronic sleep deprivation was positively associated with PM in the total population (odds ratio (OR): 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-1.13) and sub-population (low, middle, high population density areas with OR: 1.127, 1.09, and 1.059, respectively). The association was consistently observed in both sexes (males with OR: 1.09, females with OR: 1.09)) and was more pronounced in the elderly population (OR: 1.12) than in the middle-aged (OR: 1.07) and young (OR: 1.09) populations.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results are consistent with the hypothesis regarding the relationship between long-term PM exposure and chronic sleep deprivation, and the study provides quantitative evidence for public health interventions to improve air quality that can affect chronic sleep conditions.