Season of Birth, Sex and Sleep Timing Preferences

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Yuee Huang²  Dongdong Lin³  Chuanwen Lu⁸  Gholam Ali⁴  James Metzger⁶  Nivedita Shankar⁵  Tan Xu⁷  Wenjie Sun¹ 

[1] School of Food Science, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Zhongshan 528458, China;Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu 241001, China; E-Mail:;School of Science and Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; E-mail:;School of Medicine, Tulane University, 1430 Tulane Ave, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; E-Mail:;Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, 117549, Singapore; E-Mail:;Histecon Associates, Inc. Little Rock, AR 72205, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China;Department of Environmental Toxicology, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79416, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: season of birth;    sex;    sleep timing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph120505603

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Objective: To evaluate whether the season of birth and sex are associated with preferences for bedtime among Chinese adults. Methods: A national population-based study on sleep preferences was conducted among Chinese in 2008. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the sleep time of Chinese adults. Analysis of covariance was used to examine the relationship between season of birth and preferences for bedtime. Two sets of potential confounders were used in the adjusted models. Model 1 adjusted for age. Model 2 additionally adjusted for area, occupation, education level, smoking, and drinking. Participants and Measurements: The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 3959 Chinese adults. Results: Men had a higher delayed mean sleep onset and offset time (22:38 and 6:32) than women (22:18 and 6:25). Men also slept for a shorter duration compared to women (7 h 54 min vs. 8 h 7 min). Women born in fall had the latest sleep onset time sleep offset time (22:23/6:30), compared to their counterparts born in winter. These associations were attenuated by additional adjustments of more confounders. Conclusions: There were significant differences in sleep timing preferences between men and women. Season of birth was not associated with sleep timing in Chinese adults.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.