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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1455896
This article is part of the Research Topic Understanding the Link Between Environmental Pollutants, Brain & Behavior View all articles

Sleep Duration Mediates the Association between Heavy Metals and the Prevalence of Depression: an Integrated Approach from the NHANES (2005~2020)

Provisionally accepted
Qingsong Mao Qingsong Mao 1Xiaoyi Zhu Xiaoyi Zhu 2Yu-zhe Kong Yu-zhe Kong 2*
  • 1 Banan Hospital affiliated to Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
  • 2 Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Abstract Purpose This study investigates the association between heavy metal exposure and the prevalence of depression, with the mediating role of sleep duration. Method Our study investigated the association between heavy metal concentration and depression risk in the NHANES from 2005 to 2020. We used logistic regression analysis, WQS regression model and BKMR model to assess the association. Mediation analysis was performed to explore the role of sleep duration in heavy metal exposure-induced depression. Result Of the 10825 individuals included in this study, 705 (6.85 %) were diagnosed with depression. We found a positive association between the cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), wolfram (W) concentration and the prevalence of depression. Moreover, heavy metals mixtures were positively correlated with the prevalence of depression, with Cd identified as the main contributor in the WQS regression model (0.4654). Furthermore, sleep duration mediated the association between Cd, molybdenum (Mo), Pb, Sb, W exposure and prevalence of depression, explaining 3.12%, 15.84%, 18.24%, 9.56%, 3.68% of the effect. Conclusion The findings affirm that heavy metal exposure is linked to higher depression incidence and that this relationship is partly mediated by sleep duration alterations. The study underscores the importance of environmental health monitoring and interventions aimed at reducing heavy metal exposure to mitigate its psychological impacts.

    Keywords: sleep duration, heavy metal, Depression, Mediation analysis, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

    Received: 27 Jun 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mao, Zhu and Kong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yu-zhe Kong, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, Hunan Province, China

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