Does Sleep Duration Influence CVD and Mortality Risk?

Takeaway

• Short and long sleep durations were both associated with an increased risk of incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly ischaemic stroke, and CVD mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). 

Why This Matters

• Findings emphasise an independent role of sleeping for 7-9 hours/day in diabetes care and call for effective and safe strategies for sleeping issues in these patients.

Study Design

• This prospective study included 18,876 patients (age 40-69 years) with T2D using data from the UK Biobank (2006-2010).
• Funding: National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars and others.

Key Results

• During a mean follow-up of 12.1 (±standard deviation, 2) years, 2570 incident cases of atherosclerotic CVD (coronary artery disease, n = 1460; ischaemic stroke, n = 555; peripheral artery disease, n = 596) and 598 CVD deaths were reported.
• Compared with sleep duration of 7 hours/day, the multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for:
  • atherosclerotic CVD were:
    • 1.26 (1.08 to 1.48) for sleep duration of ≤5 hours/day; and
    • 1.41 (1.16 to 1.70) for sleep duration of ≥10 hours/day.
  • ischaemic stroke were:
    • 1.70 (1.23 to 2.35) for sleep duration of ≤5 hours/day; and
    • 2.08 (1.44 to 3.01) for sleep duration of ≥10 hours/day.
  • peripheral artery disease was 1.45 (1.01 to 2.10) for sleep duration of ≥10 hours/day.
  • CVD mortality were:
    • 1.42 (1.02 to 1.97) for sleep duration of ≤5 hours/day; and
    • 1.85 (1.30 to 2.64) for sleep duration of ≥10 hours/day.

Limitations

• Data on sleep duration were self-reported.