Accelerometer-derived sleep onset timing and cardiovascular disease incidence: a UK Biobank cohort study

Abstract

Aims Growing evidence suggests that sleep quality is associated with cardiovascular risk. However, research in this area often relies upon recollection dependant questionnaires or diaries. Accelerometers provide an alternative tool for deriving sleep parameters measuring sleep patterns objectively. This study examines the associations between accelerometer derived sleep onset timing and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods and Results We derived sleep onset and waking up time from accelerometer data collected from 103,712 UK Biobank participants over a period of seven days. From this, we examined the association between sleep onset timing and CVD incidence using a series of Cox proportional hazards models. 3172 cases of CVD were reported during a mean follow-up period of 5.7 (±0.49) years. An age- and sex-controlled base analysis found that sleep onset time of 10:00pm-10:59pm was associated with the lowest CVD incidence. A fully adjusted model, additionally controlling for sleep duration, sleep irregularity, and established CVD risk factors, was unable to eliminate this association, producing hazard ratios of 1.24 (95% CI, 1.10-1.39; p<0.005), 1.12 (1.01-1.25; p=0.04), and 1.25 (1.02-1.52; p=0.03) for sleep onset <10:00pm, 11:00pm-11:59pm, and & ≥12:00am, respectively, compared to 10:00pm-10:59pm. Importantly, sensitivity analyses revealed this association was stronger in females, with only sleep onset <10:00pm significant for males. Conclusions Our findings suggest an independent relationship between sleep onset timing and risk of developing CVD, particularly for women. We also demonstrate the potential utility of collecting information about sleep parameters via accelerometry-capable wearable devices, which may serve as novel cardiovascular risk indicators.

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