Association between sleep problems and sociodemographic characteristics among ELSA-Brasil participants: Results of Multiple Correspondence Analysis

Introduction: Although adequate sleep is important for health, it is regulated by the environment and susceptible to interpersonal and social factors. Inadequate duration and quality of sleep are associated with several diseases, and even an increased risk of death. Previous studies have shown that some demographic and socioeconomic characteristics evaluated in isolation are associated with sleep problems. The objective of this study was to simultaneously evaluate, through the identification of profiles, the relationships between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and aspects of sleep. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the period 2012–2014, with 13,039 participants from the ELSA-Brasil study. The following variables related to sleep were analyzed: sleep duration and deprivation, insomnia symptoms, daytime sleepiness, and the variables sex, age, race/color, marital status, body mass index, schooling, and per capita family income, using Multiple Correspondence Analysis. Results: In the Multiple Correspondence Analysis, the inertia of the first two dimensions was 66.5 %; the first dimension explained 48.9 % of the data variability and the second dimension 17.6 %. Sleep problems (short sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, sleep deprivation, and daytime sleepiness) were related to the female sex, self-declared race/color black and brown, age group between 51 and 59 years, high schooling, per capita family income ≤ 3 minimum wages, single status, and obesity. Conclusion: Short sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, sleep deprivation, and daytime sleepiness remained in the same group and were associated with characteristics related to greater socioeconomic vulnerability. Public health policies should focus care resources on the identified groups.