Sleep Duration Associated with Cardiovascular Conditions among Adult Nevadans

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in the United States accounting for 1 out of every 3 deaths. Additionally, 43.9% of the population is expected to have some form of cardiovascular disease by the year 2030, with direct and indirect costs expected to rise upwards of 58 percent. To successfully prevent cardiovascular disease conditions such as myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, and stroke, research must be done to identify risk factors, both modifiable and non-modifiable. In the existing literature, sleep duration as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease conditions has shown inconsistent associations. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per day, yet 50-70 million adults in the U.S. have some form of chronic sleep disorder. Furthermore, both short and long sleep duration is associated with known cardiovascular disease risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, high cholesterol, depression, and overall metabolic dysfunction. This study aimed to determine if an association exists between deficient, and/or excessive sleep duration and myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, and stroke, in the state of Nevada. The 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the state of Nevada was assessed utilizing multiple logistic regression analysis in order to quantify risk. Results from the multiple logistic regression identified a total of twelve predictors of cardiovascular conditions in the final model. It was also determined that both deficient and excessive sleep duration was significantly associated with myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease or angina, and stroke, throughout the study, even after adjustment for covariates. The findings from this study can be used as additional evidence to encourage further research on improving sleep by developing future treatment therapies, and recommendations, that may help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease conditions