Sleep duration of the undergraduates are closely related to their health, but there is no conclusion about the best sleep duration for undergraduates. And there is a lack of research about the dose-response relationship between sleep duration and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) constitution.
To explore the relationship between sleep duration and TCM constitution for undergraduates, and to provide reference for their health education about sleep duration.
This study used a combination of purposeful sampling and snowball sampling methods to conduct on-site questionnaire survey on students from 143 universities including Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin Institute of Technology (Weihai), Peking University, Northwestern Polytechnical University from January to June 2019. We used the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire of 41-item (CCMQ-41) to assess the TCM constitution of undergraduates, and used a self-designed questionnaire to measure socio-demographic information and lifestyle behaviors. This study used the restricted cubic spline fitting multiple linear regression model to analyze the dose-response relationship between sleep duration and TCM constitution with taking sleep duration as the independent variable and TCM constitution score as the dependent variable, and controlling for related confounding variables.
This study collected 1 003 valid questionnaires. The response rate was 98.2%. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the sleep duration was negatively correlated with the score of qi depression (r=-0.067, P=0.034). After controlling for confounders, multiple linear regression analysis showed that there was no linear relationship between sleep duration and TCM constitution scores (P>0.05). The dose-response relationship analysis showed that the highest point of gentleness score and the lowest point of biased constitutions score (except specific diathesis) had a sleep duration of about 8 h. When the sleep duration was >8.5 h, the gentleness score showed a tendency to decrease, and the scores of qi deficiency and qi depression had a tendency to increase (P<0.05) .
Considering the health status of TCM constitutions, the best daily sleep duration for undergraduates is about 8 h. The sleep duration should be restricted to be less than 8.5 h to prevent the possibility of biased constitution.
The association of sedentary behavior and physical activity with bone mineral density (BMD) in Chinese population has been rarely studied in China, and also seldom studied in Asian populations (mainly limited in young children) by foreign countries. Considering there are great discrepancies between foreign populations and Chinese populations in genetics, dietary habits and other aspects, it is necessary to carry out relevant research in China.
To assess the association of sedentary behavior and physical activity with calcaneal BMD in college students, offering a reference for understanding the bone health status of college students, and for preventing osteoporosis in middle-aged and old people.
By use of stratified cluster sampling, 781 college students aged 19-25 years (including 518 females and 263 males) of different grades were selected from a medical university in Guangzhou from January 2021 to March 2022. Demographic and anthropometric characteristics (including sex, age, height, weight, fat mass index and fat free mass index) and lifestyle information (including daily sedentary time, time spent on physical activity in one week, frequency of dairy products, carbonated drinks and tea consumption, calcium supplement, smoking status, alcohol use status) were collected. Calcaneal BMD was measured, and compared across college students by physique and lifestyle. Multiple linear regression and binary Logistic regression were used to investigate the association of sedentary behaviors and physical activity with calcaneal BMD.
The prevalence of normal and abnormal calcaneal BMD in all students was 50.3% and 49.7%, respectively. The prevalence of abnormal calcaneal BMD in female college students (59.4%) is higher than that in male college students (30.4%) (χ2=58.849, P<0.001). The prevalence of abnormal calcaneal BMD varied by daily sedentary time and time spent on physical activity in one week in female students (χ2=6.670, 6.559, P<0.05). After controlling for potential confounders, multiple linear regression analysis and test for trend showed that in female students, the T-score value of calcaneal BMD increased with the decrease of daily sedentary time (β=-0.17), and there was an obvious negative linear trend between them (Ptrend=0.011). And the T-score value of calcaneal BMD increased with the increase of time spent on physical activity in one week (β=0.15), and there was an obvious positive linear trend between them (Ptrend=0.004). Further analysis based on binary Logistic regression models showed that in female students, sedentary time <4 hours per day was associated with lower risk of abnormal calcaneal BMD compared with sedentary time >8 hours per day〔OR=0.17, 95%CI (0.04, 0.68), P<0.05〕, and 90-150 minutes of physical activity in one week was associated with lower risk of abnormal calcaneal BMD compared with less than 90 minutes of physical activity in one week〔OR=0.66, 95%CI (0.44, 1.00), P<0.05〕.
The prevalence of abnormal calcaneal BMD in female college students is higher than that in male college students. Both sedentary behavior and physical activity are associated with calcaneal BMD in female college students, no correlation found among male college students. Daily duration of sedentary behavior <4 hours and 90-150 minutes of physical activity in one week are associated with lower risk of abnormal calcaneal BMD. Furthermore, the shorter time spent on daily sedentary behaviors, the lower the risk of abnormal BMD.
