Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Feb;51(1):137-146.
doi: 10.1007/s12160-016-9835-3.

Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory Illness: the Moderating Role of Subjective Socioeconomic Status

Aric A Prather  1   2 , Denise Janicki-Deverts  3 , Nancy E Adler  4   5 , Martica Hall  6 , Sheldon Cohen  7
Affiliations

Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory Illness: the Moderating Role of Subjective Socioeconomic Status

Aric A Prather et al. Ann Behav Med. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Sleep is a predictor of infectious illness that may depend on one's socioeconomic status (SES).

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the moderating effects of objective and subjective SES on sleep-clinical cold risk link and test whether nasal inflammation serves as a plausible biological pathway.

Methods: This study combined data (n = 732) from three viral challenge studies. Measures of self-reported sleep and objective and subjective measures of SES were obtained. Participants were quarantined and administrated rhinovirus (RV) or influenza virus and monitored over 5 (RV) or 6 (influenza) days for the development of a cold. Symptom severity, including mucus production and nasal clearance time, and levels of nasal cytokines (interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β) were measured prior to administration and each day during the quarantined period.

Results: Subjective SES, but not objective SES, moderated associations between shorter sleep duration and increased likelihood of a clinical cold. Compared to ≥8-hour sleepers, ≤6-hour sleepers with low subjective SES were at increased risk for developing a cold (OR = 2.57, 95% CI 1.10-6.02). There was no association between sleep duration and colds in high subjective SES participants. Among infected individuals who reported low subjective SES, shorter sleep duration was associated with greater mucus production. There was no evidence that markers of nasal inflammation mediated the link between sleep duration and cold susceptibility among those reporting low subjective SES.

Conclusion: Subjective SES may reflect an important social factor for understanding vulnerability to and protection against infectious illness among short sleepers.

Keywords: Cytokines; Sleep; Socioeconomic status; Upper respiratory infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with Ethical Standards Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards Dr. Prather is currently a paid consultant for Posit Science. He reports no other potential conflicts of interest. Janicki-Deverts, Adler, Hall, Cohen declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Temporal sequence of an experimental viral challenge trial
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Self-reported sleep duration is prospectively associated with the percentage of participants who subsequently developed the cold. The percentage of colds is based on predicted values (adjusted for age, sex, race, body mass index, perceived stress, pre-challenge viral-specific antibody levels, season of trial, virus type, and study)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Subjective socioeconomic status moderates the association between self-reported sleep duration, measured prior to viral exposure, and the percentage of participants who subsequently developed the cold. The percentage of colds is based on predicted values (adjusted for age, sex, race, body mass index, perceived stress, pre-challenge viral-specific antibody levels, season of trial, virus type, and study)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Luyster FS, Strollo PJ, Jr, Zee PC, et al. Sleep: A health imperative. Sleep. 2012;35:727–734. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Buysse DJ. Sleep health: Can we define it? Does it matter? Sleep. 2014;37:9–17. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cappuccio FP, D'Elia L, Strazzullo P, Miller MA. Quantity and quality of sleep and incidence of type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2010;33:414–420. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cappuccio FP, Cooper D, D'Elia L, Strazzullo P, Miller MA. Sleep duration predicts cardiovascular outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Eur Heart J. 2011;32:1484–1492. - PubMed
    1. Cohen S, Doyle WJ, Alper CM, Janicki-Deverts D, Turner RB. Sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:62–67. - PMC - PubMed