Chronotype and social jet-lag in relation to body weight, apetite, sleep quality and fatigue

ABSTRACT

Recent studies have shown a significant association between increased body weight (especially obesity) and the circadian setting – chronotype – as well as with living in accordance with the internal clock. The aim of this study was to explore the association between chronotype, social jet-lag (SJL), obesity and subjectively perceived sleep quality. A total of 1 680 people were screened by the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). In addition, their body mass index (BMI) was calculated. A significant relationship (negative) between (SJL) and MEQ score was found (p < 0.001). There was a relationship between higher SJL and morning affect and morning appetite, and a positive association between these variables and MEQ score. Evening chronotype was associated with higher FSS score in men (p = 0.015) and with higher BMI in women (p = 0.033). A relationship between evening chronotype and higher fatigue score and higher BMI was also confirmed. This is in line with other studies that show that individual differences in circadian settings (chronotype and social jet-lag rate) are important factors to be considered from the perspective of pathogenesis and treatment of many diseases or promoting awareness and responsibility at work.

KEYWORDS:

• Social Jet-lag
• chronotype
• subjective sleep quality
• fatigue

Author Contributions

Eva Fárková is main author, she has been involved in the preparation of the study, collecting and analyzing the data and writing the manuscript.

Michal Šmotek and Denisa Manková have been involved in the data analysis and writing the manuscript.

Jana Kopřivová and Zdeňka Bendová have been involved in the preparation of the study and writing the manuscript.

Acknowledgments

This study is a result of the research funded by the project Nr. LO1611 with a financial support from the MEYS under the NPU I program and by the project 260388/SVV/2019.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the SVV/2019 [260388];NPU I programme [Nr. LO1611].