Misalignment of sleep timing associated with metabolic risk factors, even after adjustment
THURSDAY, Nov. 19, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Social jetlag due to a habitual discrepancy between endogenous circadian rhythm and actual sleep times, imposed by social obligations, is associated with metabolic risk factors that are linked to cardiovascular disease and prediabetes, according to a study published online Nov. 18 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Patricia M. Wong, from the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues examined the impact of chronotype and/or social jetlag on cardiovascular disease risk, beyond the known effects of sleep disturbances, poor health behaviors, and depressive symptomatology. Data were included for 447 healthy midlife adults (mean age, 42.7 years) who worked part- or full-time day shifts. The authors assessed chronotype with the Composite Scale of Morningness, and quantified social jetlag as the difference between the midpoints of actigraphy-derived sleep intervals before work versus non-workdays.
The researchers found that even after adjustment for subjective sleep quality, actigraphy-derived sleep characteristics, depressive symptomatology, and health behaviors, social jetlag correlated with a lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, higher triglycerides, higher fasting plasma insulin, insulin resistance, and adiposity (P < 0.05). After adjustment for covariates, evening chronotype correlated with lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
“Our findings suggest that a misalignment of sleep timing is associated with metabolic risk factors that predispose to diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” the authors write.
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