Sleep Irregularity and Subclinical Markers of Cardiovascular Disease: The Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

BACKGROUND: Sleep irregularity has been linked to incident cardiovascular disease. Less is known about associations of sleep regularity with atherosclerosis. We examined cross‐sectional associations of actigraphy‐assessed sleep duration and sleep timing regularity with subclinical atherosclerosis in the community‐based MESA (Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis). METHODS AND RESULTS: MESA Sleep Ancillary Study participants (N=2032; mean age, 68.6±9.2 years; 37.9% White) completed 7‐day wrist actigraphy. Participants underwent assessments of coronary artery calcium, carotid plaque presence, carotid intima‐media thickness, and the ankle‐brachial index. Sleep regularity was quantified by the 7‐day with‐in person SD of sleep duration and sleep onset timing. Relative risk regression models were used to calculate prevalence ratios and 95% CIs. Models are adjusted for demographics, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and other objectively assessed sleep characteristics including obstructive sleep apnea, sleep duration, and sleep fragmentation. After adjustment, compared with participants with more regular sleep durations (SD ≤60 minutes), participants with greater sleep duration irregularity (SD >120 minutes) were more likely to have high coronary artery calcium burden (>300; prevalence ratio, 1.33 [95% CI, 1.03–1.71]) and abnormal ankle‐brachial index (<0.9; prevalence ratio, 1.75 [95% CI, 1.03–2.95]). Compared with participants with more regular sleep timing (SD ≤30 minutes), participants with irregular sleep timing (SD >90 minutes) were more likely to have high coronary artery calcium burden (prevalence ratio, 1.39 [95% CI, 1.07–1.82]). Associations persisted after adjustment for cardiovascular disease risk factors and average sleep duration, obstructive sleep apnea, and sleep fragmentation. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep irregularity, particularly sleep duration irregularity, was associated with several measures of subclinical atherosclerosis. Sleep regularity may be a modifiable target for reducing atherosclerosis risk. Future investigation into cardiovascular risk reduction interventions targeting sleep irregularity may be warranted.