Sex-specific associations between extreme sleep duration and prevalence of cardio-cerebral vascular disease: a community-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Most previous studies on sleep duration and cardio-cerebral vascular disease (CCVD) association have not adequately controlled for many confounders. The current study prospectively examined the association of sleep duration with CCVD prevalence in a Chinese community population; cardiovascular risk factors, chronic diseases, and sleep quality were taken into consideration.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted in Pudong New Area of Shanghai, China. Through three-stage sampling, 10,657 adults aged ≥15 years were randomly selected. Self-reported sleep duration and CCVD prevalence were obtained using a structured questionnaire. Medical records of the subjects were reviewed by investigators for further confirmation. Relationships between sleep duration and CCVD prevalence were examined using logistic regression models.

RESULTS: Compared to midrange sleep duration (7 h), the multivariate-adjusted OR of CCVD prevalence was 1.550 (95% CI 1.192-2.017) for sleeping 5 h, 1.427 (95% CI 0.983-2.072) for sleeping <5 h. A similar situation also prevailed in coronary heart disease (CHD) prevalence: the multivariate-adjusted OR of stroke prevalence was 2.130 (95% CI 1.338-3.389) for sleeping >9 h. In an analysis stratified by sex, participants with a long sleep duration (>9 h) demonstrated significantly increased prevalence (OR = 3.623, 95% CI 1.862-7.052) for stroke only in men.

CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between extreme sleep durations and CCVD were influenced by sex in a Chinese community population. Further studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms of the association between extreme sleep duration and CCVD, as well as sex-specificity in the relationship.