Association of sleep duration with rheumatoid arthritis in Korean adults: analysis of seven years of aggregated data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES)

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and self-reported sleep duration. SETTING: The present study analysed 7 years of aggregated cross-sectional data (2007–2013) from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 37 979 individuals were selected for the analyses. INTERVENTIONS: RA. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Sleep duration. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounding factors, the odds of short-duration sleepers (≤6 hours/day) and long-duration sleepers (≥9 hours/day) for RA were 1.23-fold (95% CI 1.101 to 1.51) and 1.27-fold (95% CI 0.85 to 1.88) higher, respectively, than those for persons with sleep duration of 7–8 hours/day. A subgroup analysis according to the extent of pain in RA revealed that the strong relationship between RA and sleep disturbances was observed in those with high pain from RA (OR: 1.28 CI 1.04 to 1.58). CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with RA may be at a higher risk for sleep disturbances compared with individuals without RA. Therefore, the provision of comprehensive care for patients with RA by healthcare professionals should include assessments of sleep duration and patients with RA should be encouraged to report sleep problems.