Ambient fine-particulate air pollution associates with short sleep duration among 2,082 community-dwelling older adults

Findings from a large-scale questionnaire survey

Bibliographic Data

ID22091875
AuthorsNing Liang (0000-0003-0260-2331, The Affiliated Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, corresponding author), Yitong Zhou (0000-0001-5501-8230, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College), WEI RAN (0000-0002-8367-9252, The Affiliated Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University), Ruixue Yuan (0000-0003-2436-4063, The Affiliated Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume14
Pages1673763-1673763
Publication date2026-03-18
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2026.1673763
PMID41929895
OpenAlexW7139090069
LanguageEN
References cited48

Objective Short sleep duration is widespread in China’s aging population, yet the contribution of ambient fine-particulate matter (PM2.5) remains uncertain. We investigated whether chronic PM2.5 exposure associates with habitual short sleep duration. Methods Within a hospital-based outreach program we surveyed 2082 community-dwelling adults aged ≥60 years in Nanchong and Chongqing (January–December 2024). Annual PM2.5 (1 km 2 resolution) was estimated via a validated satellite–ground-fusion model; sleep duration was self-reported using the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which has been culturally adapted and validated against actigraphy ( ρ = 0.62). Short sleep duration was predefined as 50 μg m −3 ). Restricted cubic splines explored non-linearity, while population-attributable fractions and C-index shifts appraised public-health impact and predictive gain. Results Mean PM2.5 was 44.1 ± 12.5 μg m −3 ; 27.3% of participants reported short sleep duration. Each 10 μg m −3 rise in PM2.5 increased short-sleep odds by 12% (adjusted OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.04–1.20). Compared with 50 μg m −3 conferred 51% higher odds (OR 1.51, 1.18–1.94). The relationship was monotonic and approximately log-linear. Achieving PM2.5 ≤ 35 μg m −3 could avert 24% of short-sleep cases; introducing PM2.5 improved discrimination from 0.55 to 0.57 ( Δ 0.02). Conclusion Chronic PM2.5 exposure is a modifiable, dose-dependent driver of short sleep duration in older Chinese adults. Air-quality control may yield meaningful sleep-health dividends

Actigraphy · Logistic regression · Odds · Odds ratio · Sleep quality · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Air Quality Monitoring and Forecasting · Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging

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