Objectives: The association between sleep duration and serum lipid profile in the middle-aged and the elderly is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate the relationships between sleep duration and levels of serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides in these populations.
Design: Cross-sectional observational study.
Setting: Community-based investigation in Guishan Township of northern Taiwan.
Participants: A total of 400 community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly individuals were enrolled. All participants underwent a baseline assessment in 2014, which included anthropometrics, blood samples and self-administered questionnaires. Participants were classified into three groups based on their sleep duration.
Outcome measures: Multivariate logistic regression was used to obtain ORs and 95% CIs to assess the relationship between sleep duration and lipid profiles.
Results: Participant mean age was 64.5 years and 35.3% were men. Subjects with longer (>7 hours) and shorter (<6 hours) nightly sleep duration had a higher prevalence of low HDL-C levels (HDL <40 mg/dL) than those with moderate sleep duration (6-7 hours). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that, compared with individuals with sleep duration of 6-7 hours, the ORs of having low HDL-C were 3.68 (95% CI 1.59 to 8.49) greater for individuals with sleep duration of <6 hours and 2.89 (95% CI 1.10 to 7.61) greater for individuals with sleep duration of >7 hours.
Conclusions: There was a U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and HDL-C levels. Sleep duration >7 hours or <6 hours increased the risk of low serum HDL-C levels.
Keywords: cholesterol/lipid; family health; metabolism; prevention; sleep; sleep duration.
© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.