Weekend catch-up sleep may be associated with reduced cardiovascular disease prevalence in people with low weekday sleep

1. In this cross-sectional study, participants who engaged in weekend catch-up sleep had a lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease than those who did not.

2. However, this was most prominent in participants with an average weekday sleep duration of <6 hours and a weekend catch-up sleep duration of >2 hours.

Evidence Rating Level: 3 (Average)

Limited sleep duration is a risk factor for several medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease. Although over a third of Americans get less than the recommended minimum sleep duration, this is often supplemented by a longer sleep duration on weekends, known as weekend catch-up sleep. Weekend catch-up sleep has been implicated in a number of conditions, including obesity and hypertension, which may place individuals at greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease. However, the impact of weekend catch-up sleep on cardiovascular disease risk has not been well studied. Therefore, the present study aimed to understand the relationship between weekend catch-up sleep and cardiovascular disease.

This cross-sectional study included 3,400 participants aged 20 years or older who completed the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants were excluded if they had missing information for the following survey categories: education, living with a partner, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, annual family income, sleep time, cardiovascular disease, smoking, and drinking. Information on sleep, cardiovascular disease, and demographics was obtained from the NHANES. The weekend catch-up sleep was calculated by subtracting the average number of hours slept on weekdays from the average number of hours slept on weekends. Weekend catch-up sleep was defined as a difference in sleep duration of >1 hour between weekdays and weekends. The primary outcome was the association between weekend catch-up sleep and cardiovascular disease prevalence.

The results demonstrated a significantly lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease in those who engaged in weekend catch-up sleep than those who did not. In those that slept <6 hours on weekdays and had >2 hours of weekend catch-up sleep, the odds ratio for cardiovascular disease prevalence was significantly lower than in other subgroups. However, the study was limited by the self-reporting of sleep duration, which may have introduced bias. Nonetheless, the present study suggested that in those who average <6 hours of weekday sleep, weekend catch-up sleep could be beneficial in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Click to read the study in Sleep Health

Image: PD

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