Behavioral Trait of Morningness-Eveningness in Association with Articular and Spinal Diseases in a Population

Earlier studies have revealed that the more the preference to schedule daily activities towards the evening hours is, the higher the odds for a range of health hazards are. Therefore, we wanted to analyze, whether the behavioral trait of morningness-eveningness is associated with articular and spinal diseases or those with musculoskeletal disorders. Participants (n = 6089), as part of the National FINRISK 2007 Study, were derived from the general population, aged 25 to 74 years, living in Finland. Chronotype was assessed based on six items from the original Horne-Östberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Information about risk factors and the diagnoses of articular and spinal diseases were based on the self-reported information. Our results suggest that Evening-types have higher odds for articular and spinal diseases as compared with Morning-types, and this risk is heightened especially regarding spinal disease and backache (odds ratios of 1.8 to 2.1, and 1.6 to 1.8, respectively) and remains significant after controlling for the sex, age, education, civil status, physical activity, alcohol use, and smoking, and additionally for the body-mass index, insufficient sleep, or depressive symptoms.