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Sleep and the Common Cold

Adults who slept fewer than 7 hours per night were almost three times more likely than longer sleepers to develop a cold after rhinovirus exposure.

Sleep deprivation can adversely affect immune function, and one study has suggested a link between poor sleep habits and increased risk for common colds (JAMA 1997; 277:1940). Researchers now report results from a prospective study of sleep habits and rhinovirus susceptibility.

Participants were interviewed daily for 14 days to assess sleep duration and "sleep efficiency" (the proportion of time in bed spent asleep). Information on several other variables (e.g., rhinoviral antibody titers, age, body-mass index, race, income, sex, smoking) was also collected to allow control for potential confounders. After this assessment, participants were placed in quarantine, exposed to an experimental rhinovirus (RV-39), and monitored for 5 days for signs and symptoms of illness. The outcome (a cold) was defined as infection (recovery of RV-39 from nasal lavage fluid or a 4-fold rise in RV-39 antibody titer) plus the presence of signs (mucus weight 10 g or nasal clearance time 35 minutes) or symptoms of a cold.

Of 153 individuals enrolled, 135 (88%) became infected, but only 54 (35%) and 66 (43%) developed a cold as determined by signs and by symptoms, respectively. Participants who averaged <7 hours of sleep per night had the highest risk for colds as determined by signs (odds ratio, compared with participants sleeping 8 hours/night, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.2–7.3). Similarly, those with "sleep efficiency" <85% had the highest risk for colds after RV-39 exposure (OR, compared with the rest of the sample, 5.4; 95% CI, 1.5–19.1).

Comment: To the many benefits of good sleep we can now add protection from symptomatic rhinovirus infection. Data from this prospective investigation, combined with other study findings linking sleep duration to mortality and to heart disease morbidity, support a recommendation for 7–8 hours of sleep nightly. Further study of the link between sleep habits and disease susceptibility is warranted.

— Daniel J. Diekema, MD, MS

Published in Journal Watch Infectious Diseases January 21, 2009

Citation(s):

Cohen S et al. Sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold. Arch Intern Med 2009 Jan 12; 169:62.

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