Impaired sleep quality and sleep duration in smokers—results from theGermanMulticenterStudy onNicotineDependence

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2012.00487.x
• Publication Date: 2012-08-23T10:09:54Z
• Authors: Stefan Cohrs; Andrea Rodenbeck; Dieter Riemann; Bertram Szagun; Andreas Jaehne; Jürgen Brinkmeyer; Gerhard Gründer; Thomas Wienker; Amalia Diaz‐Lacava; Arian Mobascher; Norbert Dahmen; Norbert Thuerauf; Johannes Kornhuber; Falk Kiefer; Jürgen Gallinat; Michael Wagner; Dieter Kunz; Ulrike Grittner; Georg Winterer
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Sleep Wake Disorders; Adolescent; Smoking; Tobacco Use Disorder; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Case-Control Studies; Germany; Prevalence; Humans; Female; Aged

AbstractCigarette smoking is a severe health burden being related to a number of chronic diseases. Frequently, smokers report about sleep problems. Sleep disturbance, in turn, has been demonstrated to be involved in the pathophysiology of several disorders related to smoking and may be relevant for the pathophysiology of nicotine dependence. Therefore, determining the frequency of sleep disturbance in otherwise healthy smokers and its association with degree of nicotine dependence is highly relevant. In a population‐based case‐control study, 1071 smokers and 1243 non‐smokerswithoutlifetimeDiagnostic andStatisticalManual ofMentalDisorders,FourthEdition,AxisIdisorder were investigated. Sleep quality (SQ) of participants was determined by thePittsburghSleepQualityIndex. As possible confounders, age, sex and level of education and income, as well as depressiveness, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity, alcohol drinking behaviour and perceived stress, were included into multiple regression analyses. Significantly more smokers than non‐smokers (28.1% versus 19.1%;P < 0.0001) demonstrated a disturbed globalSQ. After controlling for the confounders, impaired scores in the component scores of sleep latency, sleep duration and globalSQwere found significantly more often in smokers than non‐smokers. Consistently, higher degrees of nicotine dependence and intensity of smoking were associated with shorter sleep duration. This study demonstrates for the first time an elevated prevalence of sleep disturbance in smokers compared with non‐smokers in a populationwithoutlifetime history of psychiatric disorders even after controlling for potentially relevant risk factors. It appears likely that smoking is a behaviourally modifiable risk factor for the occurrence of impairedSQand short sleep duration.