Non-linear associations of blood volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with sleep health and mortality in American adults: data from the National health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES) 2007-2012.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to shed light on the potential relationships between blood volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sleep health as well as mortality.

METHODS

We employed generalized linear (GL), restricted cubic spline (RCS), weighted quantile sum (WQS), quantile-based g-calculation (QGC), and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models to assess the relationship between blood VOCs-including bromoform (NHANES code: LBXVBF), bromodichloromethane (LBXVBM), chloroform (LBXVCF), dibromochloromethane (LBXVCM), and methyl tert-butyl ether (LBXVME)-and sleep health indicators (trouble sleeping, sleep disorders, and insufficient (< 6 h/day) or excessive (> 9 h/day) sleep) in participants from the NHANES 2007-2012. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was also used for survival analysis.

RESULTS

The baseline profile categorized by sex showed that women had a higher prevalence of trouble sleeping, whereas men were more prone to insufficient sleep. We did not observe significant linear-correlations between VOCs and both increased sleep duration and poor sleep patterns, as shown by the weighted linear/logistic regression models. The RCS regression model indicated significant non-linear relationships (P for non-linear < 0.05) between certain VOC and sleep health. Adjusted QGC analysis highlighted LBXVBF as a crucial factor related to poor sleep quality (weighted 0.733). The BKMR analysis showed a positive trend between VOC levels (55th to 75th percentiles) and poor sleep pattern. Furthermore, the adjusted COX-RCS analysis identified LBXVME (P for non-linear = 0.0359) as a risk factor for all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

This study investigated the non-linear association between VOC exposure and sleep function, suggesting that VOC exposure may be linked to poor sleep patterns among U.S. adults.