Table 2.

Epidemiology – correlations^† between subjective sleep (CSHQ) and blood fatty acids (LC-PUFA)^‡

Fatty acids	Bedtime resistance		Sleep onset delay		Sleep duration		Sleep anxiety		Night wakings		Parasomnia		Sleep disturbed breathing		Daytime sleepiness		Total sleep disturbance
	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value	ρ	P-value
DHA (22 : 6)	−0.113	0.025*	−0.033	0.515	−0.068	0.181	−0.061	0.224	−0.023	0.644	−0.106	0.035*	−0.052	0.304	−0.086	0.086	−0.131	0.009**
DPA (22 : 5)	−0.009	0.854	0.002	0.976	−0.04	0.425	0.029	0.563	0.023	0.654	0.032	0.523	0.05	0.322	0.012	0.808	0.043	0.395
EPA (20 : 5)	−0.018	0.723	0.02	0.699	0.002	0.972	−0.019	0.708	0.067	0.184	0.092	0.068	0.014	0.782	0.017	0.735	0.063	0.214
ALA (18 : 3)	−0.021	0.679	0.001	0.986	−0.039	0.436	0.04	0.432	0.019	0.701	0.013	0.798	0.006	0.907	−0.018	0.728	0.024	0.63
Total omega-3	−0.098	0.052	−0.016	0.746	−0.103	0.04*	−0.003	0.949	0.035	0.486	−0.035	0.493	0.005	0.917	−0.055	0.274	−0.052	0.303
DPA (n-6) (22 : 5)	−0.014	0.782	−0.017	0.738	0.006	0.898	−0.03	0.548	0.071	0.157	0.004	0.944	−0.01	0.846	−0.047	0.35	−0.028	0.585
Adrenic (22 : 4)	−0.009	0.86	0.013	0.798	0.049	0.327	0.002	0.971	0.044	0.385	0.002	0.966	0.071	0.16	−0.048	0.346	0.005	0.92
AA (20 : 4)	−0.045	0.373	−0.022	0.657	−0.01	0.848	−0.009	0.865	0.036	0.47	0.005	0.921	0.018	0.726	−0.044	0.387	−0.027	0.595
DGLA (20 : 3)	0.016	0.749	0.032	0.526	0.04	0.428	−0.011	0.83	−0.007	0.887	0.034	0.497	−0.035	0.488	−0.016	0.746	0.007	0.891
GLA (18 : 3)	−0.029	0.572	0.031	0.542	0.005	0.923	0.044	0.385	0.007	0.883	0.01	0.844	−0.001	0.99	−0.028	0.584	0.016	0.748
LA (18 : 2)	0.000	0.995	−0.014	0.777	−0.042	0.403	0.052	0.303	0.002	0.975	−0.057	0.26	−0.083	0.1	−0.077	0.124	−0.055	0.279
Total omega-6	−0.027	0.586	−0.02	0.689	−0.022	0.657	0.044	0.381	0.024	0.637	−0.031	0.542	−0.037	0.463	−0.068	0.179	−0.041	0.422
Omega-3 index§	−0.109	0.031*	−0.026	0.602	−0.053	0.293	−0.061	0.224	0.007	0.896	−0.051	0.313	−0.038	0.454	−0.064	0.206	−0.089	0.076
Ratio DHA : AA	−0.093	0.064	−0.037	0.466	−0.085	0.093	−0.058	0.25	−0.053	0.293	−0.094	0.062	−0.078	0.123	−0.08	0.111	−0.133	0.008**
Ratio EPA : AA	0.029	0.567	0.04	0.431	−0.001	0.989	−0.011	0.831	0.038	0.456	0.084	0.095	0.012	0.818	0.042	0.409	0.078	0.124

Fatty acid acronyms: ALA, α-linolenic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; DPA, docosapentaenoic acid (both omega-3 and omega-6); DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; LA, linoleic acid; GLA, gamma-linolenic acid; DGLA, dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid; AA, arachidonic acid; CSHQ, Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire.

n = 395.

^**P < 0.01;

^*P < 0.05.

^†Spearman's rank correlations.

^‡The strongest physiological rationale for this research exists for omega-3 and omega-6 [long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA)], hence only results for these fatty acids are reported here.

^§This broadly corresponds to the ‘Omega-3 index’, a well-validated measure of cardiovascular risk in adults. However, values in this study were from whole blood, whereas the ‘Omega-3 index’ is typically calculated from EPA + DHA in red cell membranes (Harris and Klurfeld, 2011).