Sleep quality and risk of cancer: findings from the English longitudinal study of aging

Abstract

Study objective To prospectively examine the association between sleep quality and incident cancer risk in the elderly. Methods A total of 10036 participants aged ≥50 years free of cancer at baseline from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) at wave 4 (2008) were included, and followed up until 2016. The primary endpoint was new onset physician-diagnosed cancer. Sleep quality was assessed by four questions regarding the frequency of sleep problems and overall subjective feeling of sleep quality in the last month, with higher score denoting poorer sleep quality. The multivariable Cox regression model was used to calculate hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for incident cancer risk according to sleep quality. Results At 8-year follow up, a total of 745 (7.4%) participants developed cancer. Compared with good sleep quality at baseline, HR (95% CI) for incident cancer risk was 1.328 (1.061, 1.662) for intermediate quality, 1.586 (1.149, 2.189) for poor quality. Similarly, compared with maintaining good sleep quality in the first four years, HR (95% CI) for incident cancer risk was 1.615 (1.208, 2.160) for maintaining intermediate quality and 1.608 (1.043, 2.480) for maintaining poor quality. The exclusion of participants with family history of cancer or abnormal sleep duration yielded consistent results. Conclusions Poor sleep quality is positively associated with the long-term risk of developing cancer in an elderly cohort. Both medical staffs and the general public should pay more attention to improving sleep hygiene.

Relationship between Perceived Social Support and Sleep Quality among Older Men in Guangdong Province, China: The Mediating Role of Rumination and the Moderating Role of Physical Activity

“…Some changes in sleep status occur during aging, both at the macro-level (such as sleep duration and sleep stages) and at the micro-level (such as quantity and quality of sleep oscillations) [16]. The quality of sleep in older adults is implicated in modulating cognitive function [17,18], and is associated with long-term risk of developing cancer [19], depression and anxiety [20], and modulates the quality of life [21].…”

Effect of healthy lifestyle index and lifestyle patterns on the risk of mortality: A community-based cohort study

“…The five factors used in this study-LTPA, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, diet quality, and BMI-have also been considered in many other similar studies (7,14,34). In addition, this study also considered sleep quality and mental status, as they were important elements affecting the occurrence and death of chronic diseases (20, [35][36][37][38]. Consistently, other studies on the combined or overall effects of lifestyle factors had also highlighted the contribution of sleep condition (9, 10, 13, 39) and mental status (9, 10).…”

Association of Depressive Symptoms with Cancer Risk in Middle-Aged and Older Chinese Adults: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

“…Compared with women whose sleep were restless rarely or none of the time, women with restless sleep most or all of the time during the last week were more likely to develop cancer. A recent study suggests that poor sleep quality is signi cantly associated with the risk of subsequent cancer, especially for women, at 8-year follow-up [20]. The mechanisms included reduction in production of melatonin, sleep disruption, and lifestyle disturbance.…”

“…Information on cancer was collected through a self-or proxy-reported physician's diagnosis from wave 2 (2013), wave 3 (2015) and wave 4 (2018) of the CHARLS, and also from the Exit and Verbal Autopsy Questionnaire in 2013. The speci c cancer type included: diagnosis was recorded as being between the date of the last interview and that of the interview reporting an incident cancer [20].…”