Sleep duration irregularity tied to subclinical ASCVD in older adults
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Compared with participants with regular sleep patterns, older adults with irregular sleep durations were more likely to have high coronary artery calcium burden and abnormal ankle-brachial index, researchers reported.
This cross-sectional, community-based MESA Sleep Ancillary study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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“Poor sleep is linked with several CV conditions, including heart disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. For this study, we were interested in better understanding the pathways that connect poor sleep to increased risk for these conditions. Overall, we found that participants who slept varying amount of hours throughout the week — meaning that one night they slept less, one night they slept more — were more likely to have atherosclerosis than participants who slept about the same amount of time each night,” Kelsie Full, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in the division of epidemiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told Healio. “These results suggest that maintaining regular sleep schedules or sleeping close to the same total amount of time each night, may play an important role in preventing cardiovascular disease.”
The MESA Sleep Ancillary study
The present study included 2,032 participants (mean age, 69 years; 38% white) and utilized 7-day wrist actigraphy to evaluate the association between sleep duration and sleep timing regularity and subclinical atherosclerosis. Subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed as CAC, carotid plaque presence, carotid intima-media thickness and ankle-brachial index. Regularity of sleep was quantified by the 7-day within-person standard deviation of sleep duration and onset timing, according to the study.
Final estimates of subclinical atherosclerotic risk were adjusted for demographics, CVD risk factors, and objectively assessed sleep variables including obstructive sleep apnea, sleep duration and sleep fragmentation.
Participants were stratified into quartiles of sleep duration standard deviation: 60 minutes or less, 61 to 90 minutes, 91 to 120 minutes or more than 120 minutes.
Regular sleep duration was defined as standard deviation of 60 minutes. Participants in this group were used as the reference arm.
Sleep irregularity and ASCVD risk
Compared with participants with regular sleep durations, participants with sleep duration irregularity of more than 120 minutes were more likely to have high CAC burden, defined as more than 300 Agatston units (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.03-1.71) and abnormal ankle-brachial index, defined as less than 0.9 (PR = 1.75; 95% CI, 1.03-2.95).
Compared with participants with even more regular sleep timing — defined as standard deviation of 30 minutes — participants with sleep timing standard deviation of more than 90 minutes were more likely to have high CAC burden (PR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07-1.82).
Moreover, the association between regular sleep timing and lower risk for CAC and abnormal ankle-brachial index remained after adjustment for CVD risk factors, average sleep duration, obstructive sleep apnea and sleep fragmentation, according to the study.
Researchers found no association between sleep duration irregularity and abnormal carotid intima-media thickness.
“The biggest surprise to me was that 30% of the participants in the study had total sleep times that varied by more than 90 minutes over the course of the week,” Full told Healio. “Sleep is important to our overall health and well-being. It’s important to talk to your provider if you are having problems with your sleep.”
Reference:
- Irregular sleeping habits may increase risk of atherosclerosis in older adults. newsroom.heart.org/news/irregular-sleeping-habits-may-increase-risk-of-atherosclerosis-in-older-adults. Published Feb. 15, 2023. Accessed Feb. 15, 2023.
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