Abstract
Introduction: Metabolic syndrome, the clustering of multiple cardiovascular risk factors, is established as a risk factor for CVD. Shorter or longer sleep duration has been reported to be associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) and diabetes mellitus (DM) through increased insulin resistance (IR). However, it is not known if impaired sleep alters IR in a high-risk population with known MS/DM. Methods: The Baptist Employee Healthy Heart Study is an ongoing lifestyle intervention study examining the effects of web-based interventions on reducing CVD risk in individuals with MS/DM. Sleep duration was self reported by the participants. Daily sleep duration was categorized into sleep 8 hours (long). Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated from fasting insulin and fasting glucose level. Results: The population consisted of 182 participants (74% women, 49% Hispanic, mean age 52 ± 9 years). In this study the mean sleep duration was 7±5 hours and mean HOMA-IR was 5.2 ± 5.6 units. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, BMI, waist circumference, total cholesterol level and LDL cholesterol level did not apparently differ across the groups. Both short and long sleepers tended to have lower HDL cholesterol level and higher triglyceride level (p 8hrs (9.52±10.7), p Conclusions: In this study of high metabolic risk individuals, sleep duration was associated with increased insulin resistance and highlights the importance of improving sleep hygiene in the clinical management of high risk individuals with MS and DM.