Journal article
The relationship between duration and quality of sleep and upper respiratory tract infections: A systematic review
- Abstract:
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Background:
Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are common, mostly self-limiting, but result in inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions. Poor sleep is cited as a factor predisposing to URTIs, but the evidence is unclear.
Objective:
To systematically review whether sleep duration and quality influence the frequency and duration of URTIs.
Methods:
Three databases and bibliographies of included papers were searched for studies assessing associations between sleep duration or quality and URTIs. We performed dual title and abstract selection, discussed full-text exclusion decisions and completed 50% of data extraction in duplicate. The Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale assessed study quality and we estimated odds ratios (ORs) using random effects meta-analysis.
Results:
Searches identified 5146 papers. Eleven met inclusion criteria, with nine included in meta-analyses: four good, two fair and five poor for risk of bias. Compared to study defined ‘normal’ sleep duration, shorter sleep was associated with increased URTIs (OR: 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19–1.42, I2: 11%, P < 0.001) and longer sleep was not significantly associated (OR: 1.11 95% CI: 0.99–1.23, I2: 0%, P = 0.070). Sensitivity analyses using a 7- to 9-hour baseline found that sleeping shorter than 7–9 hours was associated with increased URTIs (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.22–1.41, I2: 0%, P < 0.001). Sleeping longer than 7–9 hours was non-significantly associated with increased URTIs (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.00–1.33, I2: 0%, P = 0.050, respectively). We were unable to pool sleep quality studies. No studies reported on sleep duration and URTI severity or duration.
Conclusions:
Reduced sleep, particularly shorter than 7–9 hours, is associated with increased URTIs. Strategies improving sleep should be explored to prevent URTIs.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, 1.1MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1093/fampra/cmab033
Authors
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Journal:
- Family Practice More from this journal
- Volume:
- 38
- Issue:
- 6
- Pages:
- 802-810
- Publication date:
- 2021-05-17
- Acceptance date:
- 2021-03-17
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1460-2229
- ISSN:
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0263-2136
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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1168808
- Local pid:
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pubs:1168808
- Deposit date:
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2021-03-19
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Robinson et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2021
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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