A prospective study of total sleep duration and incident metabolic syndrome: the ARIRANG study

Chronic sleep deprivation is increasingly common in industrialized societies. Recent data have revealed that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with negative health outcome. While prospective studies lack the predictive value of sleep duration to identify individuals at high risk of new-onset metabolic syndrome, total sleep duration may play a role in the development of metabolic abnormalities. This study investigates the association between total sleep duration and the incidence of metabolic syndrome in a population-based longitudinal study.

At baseline, a prospective cohort study was conducted with 2579 adults without metabolic syndrome aged between 40 and 70 years. Based on a self-reported questionnaire, the participants in this study were investigated between 2005-2008 (baseline) and 2008-2011 (follow-up) and were categorized according to their total sleep duration (<6 h, 6-7.9 h, 8-9.9 h, ≥10 h). Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the recent harmonized definition.

During an average of 2.6 years of follow-up, 558 (21.6%) subjects developed metabolic syndrome. In multivariable adjusted models, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval (CI)) for incident metabolic syndrome comparing the 6 to 7.9 h to the <6 h of total sleep duration was 1.41 (1.06-1.88). The corresponding odds ratios (95% CI) for high waist circumference, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and high blood glucose were 1.30 (0.98-1.69), 0.75 (0.56-0.97), 0.82 (0.60-1.11), 1.56 (1.19-2.03), and 1.31 (0.96-1.79), respectively.

Short sleep duration is an independent risk factor for incident metabolic syndrome in a population-based longitudinal study.