A cross-sectional analysis of the association between sleep duration and osteoporosis risk in adults using 2005–2010 NHANES

Controversy remains regarding the relationship between bone health and sleep. In the literature, the effect of sleep on bone density in the clinical setting varies depending on the definition of normal sleep duration, sleep quality, selected population, and diagnostic tools for bone density. The aim of this study was to examine the association between bone mineral density (BMD)assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and sleep duration/quality in the defined adult population from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (a national household survey) within a 6-year period (2005–2010) and explore age differences. The basic variables, metabolic diseases, and bone density in the femoral neck as determined through dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, were segregated, and analyzed according to different sleep durations (1–4, 5–6,7–8, and > 9 h/day) and sleep quality using multinomial regression models. A total of 12,793 subjects were analyzed. Our results reveal that women aged > 50 years with sleep duration < 5 h/day had a 7.35 (CI 3.438–15.715) odds of osteoporosis than those in other groups. This analysis is based on a nationally representative sample using survey and inspection data and clarifies the relationship between bone density and the effect of the combination of sleep quality and duration.