LAUSR

Asthma is one of the leading respiratory illnesses in the United States. African Americans/Blacks are particularly vulnerable to the long-term effects of this condition. In addition to general healthcare inequities, African Americans/Blacks may also have an increased vulnerability to the deleterious effects asthma may enact on health behaviors such as sleep. Comparison between races for how much asthma affects sleep health would be useful to address these vulnerabilities. Analysis was performed on the 2020 National Health Interview Survey, the most recently collected data (n=31,568.) The sample was stratified to include only asthmatics using the survey variable that asked “Have you ever been diagnosed with asthma?” 8.6% of the sample reported having asthma (n=2123). Adjusted binary logistic regression was performed to determine how race predicts sleep health in this population. Covariates included age, sex, education, household income, and physical activity. “Healthy Sleep” was coded as self-reported 7-8 hours of sleep, and “Unhealthy Sleep” was coded as either less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours, as literature establishes short and long sleep have deleterious effects on health. “Race” was coded as White, Black, American Indian/Alaskan, or Asian. In the regression, White was used as the reference category. In the adjusted model for race predicting healthy sleep, only African-Americans/Blacks showed significance compared to other races. The model showed that Blacks who are asthmatic are 54% (p<.01) less likely to sleep for 7-8 hours per day. Asian asthmatics (p=.815), and American Indian asthmatics (p=.761) did not demonstrate significance in the model predicting healthy sleep. These analyses show a pronounced connection between black racial status and unhealthy sleep amongst asthmatics. The results are in line with literature that demonstrates blacks sleep less in general and are more commonly afflicted with sleep conditions such as OSA, but there is a dearth of research examining how asthma affects sleep in this population. Further studies are needed to examine the underlying factors that may drive these vulnerabilities. K01HL135452, K07AG052685, R01AG072644, R01HL152453, R01MD007716, R01HL142066, R01AG067523, R01AG056031, and R01AG075007