Insomnia May Increase the Risk of Asthma in Adults

Insomnia symptoms were associated with an increased risk for asthma, according to a new study.

Approximately 1 in 10 children and 1 in 12 adults have asthma, and current research suggests that asthma is associated with a high prevalence of insomnia. However, there are few studies that have examined the association between insomnia symptoms and the development of asthma in adulthood.
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For their study, researchers examined incidences of asthma in 17,927 participants between 20 and 65 years of age who did not have asthma at the beginning of the study. The average follow-up time was 11 years. Odds ratios were calculated for the risk of developing asthma in individuals with insomnia, and those without. Chronic insomnia was defined as 1 or more insomnia symptom reported at the beginning of the trial, and 10 years earlier. Sleep initiation problems, sleep maintenance problems, and nonrestorative sleep were reported by participants.

Overall, the prevalence of sleep initiation problems was 1%, sleep maintenance problems was 1%, and nonrestorative sleep was 5%. The multi-adjusted odds ratios were 1.18 for participants with 1 insomnia symptom, 1.30 for participants with 2 insomnia symptoms, and 1.70 for participants with 3 insomnia symptoms compared to people with no symptoms.

“The risk of developing asthma in those with chronic insomnia was three times higher (adjusted OR 3.16, 95% CI 1.37-6.40) than those without,” the researchers wrote.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Brumpton B, Mai XM, Langhammer A, Laugsand LE, Janszky I, Strand LB. Prospective study of insomnia and incident asthma in adults: the HUNT study [published online February 2, 2017]. European Respiratory Journal. doi:10.1183/13993003.01327-2016.