Connection Between Sleep Quality, Lung Cancer Incidence

Individuals with poor sleep quality are more likely to get lung cancer than those with good sleep quality, according to findings from a study by Guo-Tian Ruyan and colleagues.

The analysis included 300 patients, 150 with lung cancer and 150 matched controls. The average age of participants was 66.5 years, and most (58.7%) were men.

Baseline data were collected via physical examination and questionnaires. Information such as age, gender, education level, stress intensity, alcohol consumption, smoking status, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cancer were included.

Sleeping pattern details were gathered following a questionnaire that asked about nap habits, “good” or “poor” sleep, and snoring. More than half (52.7%) of patients self-reported having sleep quality problems.

The researchers found that poor sleep quality was connected to an increased risk of lung cancer. Furthermore, they saw a significantly positive connection between poor sleep quality versus good sleep quality and cancer risk in smokers versus nonsmokers.

“The combined-effect analysis indicated that smokers with poor sleep quality suffered from a 2.79-fold increase in cancer incidence rates when compared with nonsmokers with good sleep quality,” the researchers said.

Researchers concluded that sleep quality may be a modifiable and controllable risk factor for lung cancer.