Association Between Household Dust Exposure and Sleep Duration: Findings from NHANES 2005–2006
Authors:   Centro de Diagnósticos Brasil - Alliança Saúde, São Paulo, Brazil, Diniz Takahashi Rogerio , Soares Tatiana ,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Massachusetts, USA, Sienra Ramiro ,   Centro de Oncologia e Doenças Autoimunes, São José dos Campos, Brazil, Lara-Amador Jose Gabriel ,   Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA, Buendía Montenegro Pilar ,   Acute Pain Unit, Hospital del Trabajador, Santiago, Chile, Sarquis Maria Daniela ,   Universidad de Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela, Abdalla Elmustafa ,   Hamad Medical Corporation, Melgar-Garcia Enry Jacob ,   Universidad de Ciencias Médicas (UCIMED), San José, Costa Rica, Borges de Souza Lima Ewerton ,   Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, Alcantara Roldi de Azeredo Mariana ,   Internal Medicine  Department, Hospital Frei Galvao - Santos, São Paulo, Brazil, Carpio Colmenares Yahaira ,   Alberto Hurtado School of Medicine, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Lima, Peru, Betancourt-Mendez Carlos ,   Ophthalmology Department - Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, Trifone Christel ,   Department for general and abdominal surgery, Klinikum Chemnitz gGmbH, Chemnitz, Germany, Borges Eva ,   Unidade Local de Saúde Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal, Monteiro Vasconcellos Jessica ,   Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino, Brasilia, Brazil, Bertuzzo Tavares Julia ,   Faculdade São Leopoldo Mandic, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, De Ávila Vitória ,   Faculdade São Leopoldo Mandic, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, Ibanez-Pintor Laura C. ,   Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Cendon de Paula Mateus ,   Bahiana School of Medicine and Public Health, Bahia, Salvador, Brazil, Rojas Amaris Natalia ,   Medicine Department, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Albornoz Roger ,   Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Unión, Lima, Perú, Lerchner Tobias ,   Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, West German Heart and Vascular Center Essen, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany, Escobar Maria Ximena ,   Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Genao Ega Jose ,   Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Felizzia Guido ,   Hemato-Oncology Department, Hospital de Pediatría J.P. Garrahan, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Almarzoky Abuhussain Safa ,   Umm Al-Qura University, Pharmacy College, Pharmacy Practice Department, Makkah Saudi Arabia, Perez Villa Inia Andrea ,   Unidad de Infectología, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Clínica Alemana de Santiago, Chile,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Adelabu Yusuf ,   Department of Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Gomez da Silva Netto Arthur ,   Departamento de Oncologia, Hematologia e Transplante de Medula Óssea - Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Fontana Antunes de Oliveira Maria Carolina ,   University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Ahmed Khalid ,   Hamad Medical Corporation, Department of Acute Care Surgery, Doha, Qatar,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Valente Takeda Christianne Fernandes ,   Rede HapVida - NDI, Fortaleza, Brazil,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Vallejos Peñaloza Gabriel ,   Departamento de Ginecología y Obstetricia, Facultad de Medicina, Clínica Alemana,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Gomez Gomez Tatiana ,   Dr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Mahmoud Mohamed H. ,   Primary Health Care Corporation - Qatar,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Sardar Sundus ,   Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Pennsylvania, USA - Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Junqueira Ygor ,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Mendes Augusto ,   Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, ECPE-PPCR, Boston, Massachusetts, USA,   Laboratory of Neuroimaging of Aging (LANVIE), Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, Koonalinthip Nantawan ,   Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Published: January 2025

Objective:  Indoor pollutants, such as household dust, are increasingly recognized as potential contributors to health problems, including sleep disturbances. This study investigates the association between household dust exposure and sleep quality among American adults, utilizing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2006.

Methods: Data from NHANES were used in a cross-sectional design. Total dust weight (mg) was the primary exposure variable, and sleep outcomes included self-reported sleep duration, sleep latency, and physician-diagnosed sleep disorders. Data analysis was conducted using univariate and regression models in STATA (version 18.5), with adjustments for confounders.

Results: 5,582 adults aged ≥18 years had available data on sleep duration, and 4,893 on sleep latency. In an adjusted model controlling for age and emotional support, dust weight was significantly associated with a slight decrease in sleep duration (adjusted β = -0.0001, p = 0.047). In multivariate logistic regression, dust weight showed a significant negative association with sleep duration (adjusted OR = 0.999, 95% CI: 0.999 to 0.999, p = 0.030), with age and emotional support demonstrating positive associations. Sleep latency showed no significant relationship with dust weight in linear regression analysis, even when controlled for emphysema and PHQ-9 score (adjusted β = -0.0002, 95% CI: -0.001 to 0.0009, p = 0.712). Multivariate logistic regression analysis also confirmed no significant association between dust weight and sleep latency.

Conclusions: This study suggests that household dust exposure modestly impacts sleep duration, highlighting the value of improving indoor air quality to enhance sleep health.