Association of short sleep duration and trabecular bone score

Short sleep duration has been found to be associated with bone health deterioration by using bone mineral density (BMD). Only a few attempts have been made to assess the association of sleep duration and bone by utilizing the trabecular bone score (TBS). The aim of this study was to examine the association between sleep duration and TBS from a national database. A total of 4480 eligible participants older than 20 years who attended the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005 to 2006 with TBS data and self-reported sleep duration. The association between sleep duration and TBS was investigated using a multivariate regression model with covariate adjustment. TBS was lowest in individuals with a short sleep duration (≤ 5 h) and it was increased in those with longer self-reported total sleep times. After a full adjustment for covariates, those sleeping less than 5 h had a significantly lower TBS than the reference group (sleep duration of 7 h). In subgroup analyses, an association between short sleep duration (≤ 5 h) and lower TBS persisted in older ages (≥ 60 years old), women, obese adults (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²), and non-Hispanic Whites. Short sleep duration is associated with low TBS in women, obese adults (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²), and non-Hispanic whites. Strict self-monitoring of body weight, well-tailored controls of underlying disease(s), and adequate sleep may help prevent osteoporosis.