The association between sleep latency and suboptimal self-rated health in medical students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background. Evidence has suggested that prolonged sleep latency was associated with negative health outcomes. Little is known about the association between sleep latency and health status in university students. This study examined the association between sleep latency and suboptimal self-rated health (SRH) in medical students. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 1,396 medical students aged 18 years and older selected through stratified cluster random sampling from an eastern Chinese university. Standardized measures of sleep latency and SRH were administered. Sleep latency was divided into four categories: <10 min, 10–19 min, 20–29 min, and ≥30 min, with ‘‘prolonged sleep latency’’ defined as a latency of ≥30 min. Logistic regression was used to investigate the association between sleep latency and suboptimal SRH. Results. Of the 1,396 participants (mean age 19.6 ± 1.2 years; 58.6% female), 599 (42.9%) reported suboptimal SRH, and 390 (27.9%) reported prolonged sleep latency. Longer sleep latency was associated with higher odds of suboptimal SRH. Comparing those with sleep latency <10 min, multivariable-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for those with sleep latency of 10–19 min, 20–29 min, and ≥30 min were 1.48 (1.07, 2.05), 2.03 (1.39, 2.97), and 2.12 (1.52, 2.96) (P for trend <0.001), respectively. The results of the stratified and sensitivity analyses were generally consistent with the main findings. Conclusion. Our study found that prolonged sleep latency was strongly linked to higher odds of suboptimal SRH in medical students, even after accounting for potential confounders. Intervention programs targeting sleep latency may potentially promote health in this population.