Association of habitual sleep duration with abnormal bowel symptoms: a cross-sectional study of the 2005-2010 national health and nutrition examination survey.

Objectives: Nowadays, few studies have examined the relationships between sleep duration and abnormal gut health. In this study, we used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to investigate the correlations between habitual sleep duration and abnormal bowel symptoms in adults.

Methods: This study included 11,533 participants aged ≥ 20 years from the NHANES conducted during 2005-2010. Chronic constipation and chronic diarrhea were defined based on the Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS) and frequency of bowel movements. Sleep duration was assessed based on the self-report questionnaire and classified into three groups: short sleep duration (< 7 h), normal sleep duration (7-9 h), and long sleep duration (> 9 h). Weighted data were calculated according to analytical guidelines. Logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline curves (RCS) were used to assess and describe the association between sleep duration and chronic diarrhea and constipation. Univariate and stratified analyses were also performed.

Results: There were 949 (7.27%) adults aged 20 years and older with chronic diarrhea and 1120 (8.94%) adults with constipation among the 11,533 individuals. A positive association was found between short sleep duration and chronic constipation, with a multivariate-adjusted OR of 1.32 (95% CI: 1.05-1.66). Additionally, long sleep duration was significantly associated with an increased risk of chronic diarrhea (OR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.08-2.84, P = 0.026). The RCS models revealed a statistically significant nonlinear association (P for non-linearity < 0.05) between sleep duration and chronic diarrhea. Furthermore, obesity was found to modify the association between sleep duration and chronic diarrhea and constipation (p for interaction = 0.044).

Conclusions: This study suggests that both long and short sleep durations are associated with a higher risk of chronic diarrhea and constipation in the general population. Furthermore, a non-linear association between sleep duration and these conditions persists even after adjusting for case complexities.