Association between sleep and residential environments in the summertime in Japan

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to identify the effect of environmental factors on sleep in the summertime in Japan.

Methods: A self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted in Japan. Age of participants ranged from 20 to 70 years.

Results: The mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score was 4.9 (±2.7), and 123 (35.0%) participants had scores of >5. According to the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for PSQI scores of >5 without installation of air conditioner was 1.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-3.3; P<.05), use of a light bulb was 3.7 (95% CI, 1.1-12.6; P<.05), and noise was 2.1 (95% CI, 1.1-4.1; P<.05) after controlling for several confounding variables. Difficulty initiating sleep (DIS) was associated with installation of an air conditioner (1 [reference] to 3 [aOR, 2.5 {95% CI, 1.2-5.1}] and 4 [aOR, 2.8 {95% CI, 1.1-7.1}]) and noise (1 [reference] to 3 [aOR, 2.4 {95% CI, 1.0-5.9}] and 4 [aOR, 8.8 {95% CI, 3.1-25.0}]). Difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS) was associated with installation of a fan (1 [reference] to 2 [aOR, 0.4 {95% CI, 0.2-0.8}] and noise (1 [reference] to 3 [aOR, 2.3 {95% CI, 1.0-5.3}]) after controlling for several confounding variables.

Conclusions: Our finding using analysis of the association between residential environments and subjective sleep statuses, which determined that the installation of an air conditioner and lighting equipment might affect sleep, may be useful to discuss sleep environments and improve sleep quality.

Keywords: Air conditioner; Environment; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Questionnaire; Sleep; Summertime.