Anemia and insomnia: a cross-sectional study and meta-analysis

• Published in: Chinese medical journal Vol. 134; no. 6; pp. 675 - 681
• Main Authors: Neumann, Samantha N., Li, Jun-Juan, Yuan, Xiao-Dong, Chen, Shuo-Hua, Ma, Chao-Ran, Murray-Kolb, Laura E., Shen, Yun, Wu, Shou-Ling, Gao, Xiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 21.12.2020; Eberly College of Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States%West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lewisburg, WV, United States%Department of Nephrology, Kailuan General Hospital, Tangshan, Hebei 063000, China%Department of Cardiology, Kailuan General Hospital, Tangshan, Hebei 063000, China%Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States%Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215000, China; Wolters Kluwer
• Subjects: Original; Inflammation; C-reactive protein; Cohort; Anemia; Insomnia
• ISSN: 0366-6999; 2542-5641; 2542-5641
• DOI: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000001306

Several recent genome-wide association studies suggested insomnia and anemia may share some common genetic components. We thus examined whether adults with anemia had higher odds of having insomnia relative to those without anemia in a cross-sectional study and a meta-analysis. Included in this cross-sectional study were 12,614 Chinese adults who participated in an ongoing cohort, the Kailuan Study. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels below 12.0 g/dL in women and 13.0 g/dL in men. Insomnia was assessed using the Chinese version of the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). A total AIS score ≥6 was considered insomnia. The association between anemia and insomnia was assessed using a logistic regression model, adjusting for potential confounders such as age, sex, chronic disease status, and plasma C-reactive protein concentrations. A meta-analysis was conducted using the fixed effects model to pool results from our study and three previously published cross-sectional studies on this topic in adult populations. Individuals with anemia had greater odds of having insomnia (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.70) compared with individuals without anemia. A significant association persisted after we excluded individuals with chronic inflammation, as suggested by C-reactive protein levels >1 mg/L (adjusted OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.22-2.32). The meta-analysis results, including 22,134 participants, also identified a positive association between anemia and insomnia (pooled OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.22-1.57). The presence of anemia was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of having insomnia in adults. Due to the nature of the cross-sectional study design, results should be interpreted with caution.