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Serum Micronutrient Status, Sleep Quality And Neurobehavioral Function Among Early Adolescents, Xiaopeng Ji, Charlene W. Compher, Sharon Y. Irving, Jinyoung Kim, David F. Dinges, Jianghong Liu

Nursing Faculty Publications

Objective: To examine associations between serum micronutrients and neurobehavioral function and the mediating role of sleep quality in early adolescents. Design: In this cross-sectional study, peripheral blood samples were analyzed for iron and zinc levels. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery were used to assess sleep quality and neurobehavioral function, respectively. The generalized linear regressions (bootstrap) were performed to estimate the associations. Setting: Jintan, China Participants: 226 adolescents (106 females) from the Jintan Child Cohort study. Results: Adolescents with low iron (< 75 ug/dl) (OR=1.29, p=0.04) and low zinc (< 70 ug/dl) (OR=1.58, p0.05). Conclusion: Iron and zinc deficiencies may possibly be associated with poor sleep and neurobehavioral function among early adolescents. Poor sleep may partially mediate the relationship between micronutrients and neurobehavioral function.