# Long sleep duration and good sleep quality reduced incident peptic ulcer disease in a large Taiwanese population follow-up study

## TL;DR

Longer sleep and better sleep quality are linked to a lower risk of developing peptic ulcers in a large study of people in Taiwan.

## Contribution

This study identifies sleep duration and quality as independent protective factors for peptic ulcer disease in a large population.

## Key findings

- Sleeping more than 7 hours per day was associated with a 22.9% lower risk of peptic ulcer disease.
- Better sleep quality significantly reduced the risk of developing peptic ulcers compared to very poor sleep quality.
- Each additional hour of sleep per day was linked to a 6.7% decrease in peptic ulcer risk.

## Abstract

Poor sleep has been associated with diseases including cardiovascular, obesity and mental disorders. However, there is limited information on the correlation between sleep duration and quality with peptic ulcer disease (PUD). This study aimed to investigate the impact of sleep duration and quality on the incidence of PUD in a large Taiwanese population follow-up study. The study participants were recruited from the Taiwan Biobank. Sleep duration, sleep quality, and the presence of PUD were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. The participants were categorized into three groups based on sleep duration: < 7 hours/day, 7 hours/day, and > 7 hours/day. Sleep quality was divided into five levels: very poor, poor, normal, good and very good. The association between sleep duration and quality with incident PUD was analyzed using multiple logistic regression after controlling for confounders. We collected data from 22,561 participants (excluding those with pre-existing PUD, missing basic information, or lacking sleep data). Over an average follow-up period of 43 months, multivariable analysis showed that sleep duration > 7 hours/day (vs. < 7 hours/day; hazard ratio [HR], 0.771; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.668 to 0.890; p < 0.001) was significantly associated with incident PUD. Further, sleep duration (per 1 hour/day; HR, 0.933; 95% CI, 0.889 to 0.979; p = 0.005) was also significantly associated with incident PUD. Those with poor sleep quality (vs. very poor quality; HR, 0.649; 95% CI, 0.491 to 0.858; p = 0.002), normal sleep quality (vs. very poor quality; HR, 0.611; 95% CI, 0.469 to 0.795; p < 0.001), good sleep quality (vs. very poor quality; HR, 0.507; 95% CI, 0.382 to 0.671; p < 0.001), and very good sleep quality (vs. very poor quality; HR, 0.493; 95% CI, 0.367 to 0.662; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with incident PUD. We found that longer sleep duration and better sleep quality were independent protective factors for PUD. Future research should explore the underlying mechanisms and verify whether improving sleep can directly reduce the incidence of PUD.