Abstract
Self-reports of long or short sleep durations have indicated an association with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, but there are limited data evaluating their association with white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV), a marker of cerebral small vessel disease. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of self-reported sleep duration to test for a correlation with white matter hyperintensities, measured by quantitative MRI in the Northern Manhattan Study. We used multivariable linear regression models to assess associations between both short (< 6 hours) and long (≥ 9 hours) sleep durations and log-transformed WMHV, adjusting for demographic, behavioral and vascular risk factors. A total of 1244 participants, mean age 70 ± 9 years, 61% women and 68% Hispanics were analyzed with magnetic resonance brain imaging and self-reported sleep duration. Short sleep was reported by 23% (n = 293), and long sleep by 10% (n=121) of the sample. Long sleep (β = 0.178; p = 0.035), but not short sleep (β = −0.053; p = 0.357), was associated with greater log-WMHV in fully adjusted models. We observed an interaction between sleep duration, diabetes mellitus, and log-WMHV (p = 0.07). In fully adjusted models, stratified analysis showed that long sleep duration was associated with greater WMHV only in those with diabetes (β = 0.78; p = 0.0314), but not in non-diabetics (β = 0.022; p = 0.2), whereas short sleep was not associated with white matter hyperintensities in those with diabetes or non-diabetics. In conclusion, long sleep duration was associated with a greater burden of white matter lesions in this stroke-free urban sample. The association was mainly seen among those with diabetes mellitus.
