Both Short and Long Sleep Durations are Risk Factors for Sarcopenia in Suburban-Dwelling Older Chinese Individuals: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND: Few longitudinal studies have explored exploring the relationship between sleep duration and sarcopenia. Evidence concerning the relationship between sleep duration and sarcopenia is limited and inconsistent. The purpose of this 3-year prospective study was to explore whether sleep duration was associated with sarcopenia onset in suburb-dwelling older Chinese individuals. METHODS: This was a prospective study that included 754 Chinese suburb-dwelling men and women aged ≥60 years (men n=327, mean age 65.24± 4.87 years) who were not initially diagnosed with sarcopenia. We defined sarcopenia using the diagnostic algorithm recommended by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Self-reported sleep duration was a component of the interview measured by trained interviewers. Subjects were categorized into 3 groups at baseline [short: <6 h, medium: 6–8 h, and long: >8 h]. RESULTS: The incidence of sarcopenia during the 3-year follow-up was 12.2%. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that after adjustments for potential confounders long sleep duration was independently associated with sarcopenia incidence from baseline through the 3-year follow-up: when using the 6–8 h sleep duration group as a reference, the adjusted ORs for sarcopenia of the groups who slept <6 and >8 hours were 2.74 (95% CI 1.05–7.13) and 1.84 (95% CI 1.07–3.14). CONCLUSION: Both short and long sleep durations were associated with a greater incidence of sarcopenia. Thus, sleep duration should be considered when developing prevention and management strategies for sarcopenia.