Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Among People With Sleep Disturbances: A Population-Based Study

• Published in: Mayo Clinic proceedings Vol. 79; no. 12; pp. 1501 - 1506
• Main Authors: Vege, Santhi Swaroop, Locke, G. Richard, Weaver, Amy L., Farmer, Sara A., Melton, L. Joseph, Talley, Nicholas J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rochester, MN Elsevier Inc 01.12.2004; Mayo Medical Ventures; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Comorbidity; Confidence Intervals; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Dyspepsia - diagnosis; Dyspepsia - epidemiology; Female; Gastrointestinal Diseases - diagnosis; Gastrointestinal Diseases - epidemiology; General aspects; Humans; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - diagnosis; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Minnesota - epidemiology; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Odds Ratio; Population Surveillance; Prevalence; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Distribution; Sleep Wake Disorders - diagnosis; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Minnesota; GERD; GI; OR; CI; EBSQ; IBS; BDQ; FD; Medicine; Stomach; Nervous system diseases; Sleep disorder; Neurological disorder; Gastrointestinal; Public health
• ISSN: 0025-6196; 1942-5546
• DOI: 10.4065/79.12.1501

To determine whether unexplained gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are more common in people with self-reported sleep disturbance. From November 1988 to June 1994, valid self-report questionnaires were mailed to age- and sex-stratified random samples of Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents aged 20 to 95 years. Of 2269 study participants (74% response rate), 52% were women (mean age, 45.0 years). The overall age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of sleep disturbance per 100 population was 13.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.7%-15.3%). Among study participants with sleep disturbance, the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was 33.3% (95% CI, 26.0%-40.5%) and the prevalence of frequent dyspepsia (FD) was 21.3% (95% CI, 14.4%-28.2%). After adjusting for age, sex, and somatization score, IBS was significantly more common in those with sleep disturbance (odds ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.2), but the univariate association with FD was no longer statistically significant (odds ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 0.9-1.9). Both IBS and FD are prevalent in those with self-reported sleep disturbance. Sleep disturbance was independently associated with IBS but not FD in the general population.