title: Exploring Gender Difference in Sleep Quality of Young Adults: Findings from a Large Population Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore if gender difference in sleep quality is due to higher prevalence of depression in females, and whether socio-demographic and lifestyle factors have a differential effect on sleep quality in males and females.
  
  
  METHODS
  Youth self-reports and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were used to assess sleep quality and associated risk factors. Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the association between various risk factors and poor sleep quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Reports from 3,778 young adults (20.6±0.86 years) indicate a higher prevalence of poor sleep quality in females than males (65.1% vs. 49.8%). It seems that gender difference in poor sleep is independent of depression, socio-demographics, and lifestyle factors, since the higher odds of poor sleep quality in females was robust to adjust for depression, socio-demographics, and lifestyle factors (OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.23-1.90). Lifestyle factors (eg, smoking) (OR 1.91; 95% CI 1.05-3.46) were associated with sleep quality in only males.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that female vulnerability to poor sleep quality should be explored beyond psycho-social disparities. Perhaps, exploring if the female predisposition to poor sleep quality originates at the biological level could lead to the answer.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Yaqoot
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.affiliation: Research School of Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.|School of Agricultural, Computing, and Environmental Sciences, Universtity of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia.|College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Suhail A R
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jake M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Najman
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia a.mamun@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Abdullah Al
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mamun
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depression; Gender difference; Lifestyle; Sleep quality; Young adults