The role of prescription medications in the association of self-reported sleep duration and obesity in U.S. adults, 2007-2012

Abstract

Objective: Previous research has not investigated the role of prescription medication in sleep-obesity associations despite the fact that 56% of U.S. adults take at least one prescription medication. Methods: Data from n = 16,622 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2012) were used to examine how the association between obesity and self-reported sleep duration varied by total number of prescription medications used in the past 30 days and by select classes of prescription medications including anxiolytics/sedatives/hypnotics, antidepressants, sleep aids, anticonvulsants, thyroid agents, and metabolic agents. Results: Logistic regression analyses showed a significant inverse linear association of sleep duration and obesity, regardless of the total number of prescription medications individuals were taking. Each additional hour of sleep was associated with a 10% decrease in the odds of obesity. Results suggest that increased sleep duration is associated with lower odds of having obesity overall, even for long-duration sleepers (≥9 h), and this association does not differ for those taking antidepressants, thyroid agents, metabolic agents, and multiple prescription medications. Conclusions: The relationship between sleep duration and obesity was similar among all prescription medication users and nonusers. The potential for a nonlinear association between sleep duration and obesity may be important to examine in some specific prescription medication classes.