Abstract
Outdoor air pollution has been linked to poor sleep health, but limited studies have investigated the relationship between solid cooking fuels and sleep health in adults. Therefore, we analyzed data from the China Health and Retirement Survey (CHARLS), a national survey of about 17,000 residents aged over 45. Participants were restricted to those who participated in CHARLS 2011, 2013 and 2015 (n = 8,668). Sleep health was indicated by self-reported average sleep hours at night and the numbers of unrested days/week in CHARLS 2015. We analyzed cooking fuel types reported and assessed the duration of solid fuels usage as consistent (indicated use in all three surveys or 6 + years) or inconsistent use (indicated use in one or two surveys or 1–4 years). We found consistent use of solid fuels was associated with a shorter sleep duration (OR = 1.17 95% CI 1.01, 1.35 for ≤ 6 h vs. 7–9 h/day) and higher frequencies of feeling unrested (OR = 1.32 95% CI 1.12, 1.55 for ≥ 5 days/week vs. none) compared with cleaner fuels use. The associations for inconsistent solid fuels use and sleep health were in the similar direction but smaller in magnitude. Further research is needed to confirm our findings and evaluate the exposure impact of specific fuel types to inform intervention strategies.
Highlights
Sleep disorders have been a major public health issue, especially in an aging society, since the elderly are susceptible to age-related changes in circadian rhythm and sleep cycle[1]
The usage of solid fuel types, including coal and crop residue or wood burning for cooking has decreased from 2011 to 2015
Our findings suggest that a longer duration of using solid fuels for cooking was associated with self-reported poor sleep health as indicated by non-optimal duration of sleep and higher frequencies of unrested days
Summary
Sleep disorders have been a major public health issue, especially in an aging society, since the elderly are susceptible to age-related changes in circadian rhythm and sleep cycle[1]. Two recent studies from specific regions of China suggested household air pollution from solid fuel combustion affected poor sleep quality in elderly aged 80 and a bove[32] and that emissions from cooking oil combustion affected sleep quality in middle-aged adults[33]. Older adults are likely to spend more time indoor[37], and they are vulnerable to ambient pollutions and susceptible to chronic health issues because of a decline in overall physical health[38,39] Within this context, we conducted a study to evaluate the association between household use of solid fuels for cooking and sleep health using a large and representative sample of Chinese residents above the age of 45 years
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