Perceived Immune Status and Sleep: A Survey among Dutch Students

Reduced immune functioning may have a negative impact on sleep and health, and vice versa. A survey among Dutch young adults (18-35 years old) was administered to collect information on perception of reduced immunity and its relationship to sleep disorders, sleep duration, and quality. Sleep disorders were assessed with the SLEEP-50 questionnaire subscales of sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorder, and daily functioning. Dutch young adults (N = 574) completed the survey. Among them, subjects (N = 209; 36.4%) reported perceived reduced immunity. Relative to those with a normal immune status, subjects reporting reduced immunity had significantly higher scores (p = 0.0001) on sleep apnea (2.6 versus 3.6), insomnia (5.1 versus 6.8), and circadian rhythm disorder (2.1 versus 2.7). Subjects reporting reduced immunity also had significantly poorer daily functioning scores (5.4 versus 7.6, p = 0.0001). No differences were observed in total sleep time, but those reporting reduced immunity had significantly poorer ratings of sleep quality (6.8 versus 7.2, p = 0.0001). Our findings suggest that perceived reduced immunity is associated with sleep disturbances, impaired daily functioning, and a poorer sleep quality. Experimental studies including the assessment of immune biomarkers and objective measures of sleep (polysomnography) should confirm the current observations

Sleep, eating disorder symptoms, and daytime functioning

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between eating disorders, body mass index (BMI), sleep disorders, and daytime functioning. DESIGN: Survey. SETTING: The Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: N=574 Dutch young adults (18-35 years old). MEASUREMENTS: Participants completed a survey on eating and sleep habits including the Eating Disorder Screen for Primary care (ESP) and SLEEP-50 questionnaire subscales for sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorder (CRD), and daytime functioning. SLEEP-50 outcomes of participants who screened negative (≤2) and positive (>2) on the ESP were compared. In addition, SLEEP-50 scores of groups of participants with different ESP scores (0-4) and different BMI groups (ie, underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obese) were compared using nonparametric statistics. RESULTS: Almost 12% (n=67) of participants screened positive for having an eating disorder. Relative to participants without eating disorders, participants who screened positive for eating disorders reported significantly higher scores on sleep apnea (3.7 versus 2.9, P=0.012), insomnia (7.7 versus 5.5, P<0.0001), CRD (2.9 versus 2.3, P=0.011), and impairment of daytime functioning (8.8 versus 5.8, P=0.0001). ESP scores were associated with insomnia (r=0.117, P=0.005), sleep apnea (r=0.118, P=0.004), sleep quality (r=-0.104, P=0.012), and daytime functioning (r=0.225, P<0.0001), but not with CRD (r=0.066, P=0.112). BMI correlated significantly with ESP scores (r=0.172, P<0.0001) and scores on sleep apnea (r=0.171, P<0.0001). When controlling for BMI, the partial correlation between ESP and sleep apnea remained significant (r=0.10, P=0.015). CONCLUSION: Participants who score positive for eating disorders scored significantly higher on sleep disorder scales, and reported significantly more impairment of daytime functioning