- © 2016 Marshfield Clinic
Exploring Gender Difference in Sleep Quality of Young Adults: Findings from a Large Population Study
- Yaqoot Fatima, MTech*,†,
- Suhail A.R. Doi, MBBS, PhD‡,§,|,
- Jake M. Najman, PhD*,# and
- Abdullah Al Mamun, PhD*⇑
- *School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- †Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia
- ‡Research School of Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- §School of Agricultural, Computing, and Environmental Sciences, Universtity of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia
- |College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
- #School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Corresponding Author
: Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun, School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Herston Road, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia, Tel: +61 (07) 33464689, Fax: +61 733655599, Email: a.mamun{at}uq.edu.au
Abstract
Objectives To explore if gender difference in sleep quality is due to higher prevalence of depression in females, and whether socio-demographic and lifestyle factors have a differential effect on sleep quality in males and females.
Methods Youth self-reports and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were used to assess sleep quality and associated risk factors. Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the association between various risk factors and poor sleep quality.
Results Reports from 3,778 young adults (20.6±0.86 years) indicate a higher prevalence of poor sleep quality in females than males (65.1% vs. 49.8%). It seems that gender difference in poor sleep is independent of depression, socio-demographics, and lifestyle factors, since the higher odds of poor sleep quality in females was robust to adjust for depression, socio-demographics, and lifestyle factors (OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.23–1.90). Lifestyle factors (eg, smoking) (OR 1.91; 95% CI 1.05–3.46) were associated with sleep quality in only males.
Conclusion Our findings indicate that female vulnerability to poor sleep quality should be explored beyond psycho-social disparities. Perhaps, exploring if the female predisposition to poor sleep quality originates at the biological level could lead to the answer.
