Objectively Measured Sleep Characteristics and Incidence of Ischemic Stroke: The Sleep Heart Health Study

Sleep disorders are associated with the prevalence of stroke. However, there is limited evidence regarding the association between objectively measured sleep characteristics and ischemic stroke.

Ischemic stroke was assessed during the mean follow-up period of 11 years in the Sleep Heart Health Study. Sleep parameters such as wake after sleep onset (WASO) and sleep efficiency (SE) were objectively measured based on in-home polysomnography records. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was utilized to examine the relationship between objective sleep characteristics and ischemic stroke incidence.

This study involved 4204 participants (1978 males and 2226 females, 63.8±11.1 years). The incidence of ischemic stroke increased in individuals with long WASO, poor SE, and short sleep duration. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that WASO within the fourth quartile (hazard ratio [HR] 3.771, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.805-7.877, P<0.001), third quartile (HR 3.009, 95% CI 1.433-6.317, P=0.004), and second quartile (HR 3.108, 95% CI 1.470-6.568, P=0.003) had a higher incidence of ischemic stroke than WASO within the first quartile. Poor SE (<80.0%) was also found to be a predictor for ischemic stroke (HR 2.220, 95% CI 1.244-3.960, P=0.007). Additionally, a short sleep duration (<6 h) was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke (HR 1.725, 95% CI 1.026-2.899, P=0.040).

Our results revealed a relationship between WASO, SE, and sleep duration and ischemic stroke. Therefore, these sleep characteristics may be adequate predictors for the incidence of ischemic stroke.