A pooled analysis of temporal trends in the prevalence of anxiety-induced sleep loss among adolescents aged 12-15 years across 29 countries

Guodong Xu; Lian Li; Lijuan Yi; Tao Li; Qiongxia Chai; Junyang Zhu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1259442

A pooled analysis of temporal trends in the prevalence of anxiety-induced sleep loss among adolescents aged 12-15 years across 29 countries

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Oct 4:14:1259442. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1259442. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Guodong Xu¹, Lian Li², Lijuan Yi¹, Tao Li¹, Qiongxia Chai¹, Junyang Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital, Zhejiang, China.
² Department of Psychiatry, Ningbo Kangning Hospital & Affiliated Mental Health Centre, Ningbo University, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies examining trends in sleep loss among adolescents have mainly focused on single countriy and region. This study aims to analyze temporal trends in the prevalence of anxiety-induced sleep loss among adolescents from 29 countries in five regions.

Methods: This study used data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey 2003-2018, which surveyed 215,380 adolescents from 29 countries with at least two cross-sectional surveys per country. The weighted country-specific prevalence of anxiety-induced sleep loss and trends across the survey years were evaluated. Random- or fixed-effects meta-analyses were used to calculate pooled prevalence and temporal trends across 29 countries.

Results: Temporal variations in anxiety-induced sleep loss across countries were identified. Increasing (Suriname, Vanuatu, and Myanmar), decreasing (Namibia, Jamaica, the Philippines, Samoa, and Indonesia), and stable (all other countries) trends in anxiety-induced sleep loss were noted. The pooled weighted prevalence of anxiety-induced sleep loss was 11.35 and 10.67% in the first and last surveys, respectively. There was no meaningful change in the propensity to have anxiety-related sleep disorders over time, with the reduction and OR of these two surveys being 0.54 (-0.53-1.61) and 0.98 (0.88-1.10). For subgroup analyses, no significant differences in pooled anxiety-induced sleep loss trends were seen between the two surveys for different sexes, regions, incomes, survey years in the first wave, survey periods, or number of surveys.

Conclusion: Trends in the prevalence of anxiety-induced sleep loss in adolescents varied significantly across different countries. Generally, a stable trend was observed in 21 of the 29 countries surveyed. Our study provides data that can aid policymakers in establishing country-specific strategies for reducing anxiety-induced sleep loss in adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents; anxiety-induced sleep loss; difference; prevalence; trends.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.