Self-Reported Sleep Disturbance is an Independent Predictor of All-Cause Mortality and Respiratory Disease Mortality in US Adults: A Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study

Objective: Self-reported sleep disturbance is common but its association with mortality has rarely been investigated. Methods: This prospective cohort analysis included 41,257 participants enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2005 to 2018. Self-reported sleep disturbance in the present study refers to the patients who have ever consulted doctors or other professionals for trouble sleeping. Univariate and multivariate survey-weighted Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association of self-reported sleep disturbance with all-cause and disease-specific mortality. Results: Approximately 27.0% of US adults were estimated to have self-reported sleep disturbance. After adjusting for all sociodemographic variables, health behavioral factors, and common comorbidities, participants with self-reported sleep disturbance tend to have higher all-cause mortality risk with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.17 (95% CI, 1.04–1.32) and chronic lower respiratory disease mortality risk (HR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.26–2.80), but not cardiovascular disease mortality risk (HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.96–1.46) and cancer mortality risk (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.90–1.35). Conclusion: Self-reported sleep disturbance could be associated with higher mortality in adults, and may need to be paid more attention in public health management.