Accelerometer-derived real-world sleep stages and risk of incident diseases: A UK Biobank cohort study and phenome-wide association analysis
by Jingsong Luo, Ruiyi Liu, Jie Yin, Wangnan Cao, Shengzhi Sun, Rui Chen Background Previous studies utilizing self-reported data or polysomnography have found that poor sleep quality is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. However, the association between real-world sleep patterns, including sleep stages, duration, and fragmentation, measured objectively with physiological…
A recent study examining real-world sleep patterns and their impact on health outcomes has been conducted using data from the UK Biobank cohort. The research, which analyzed wrist-worn accelerometer data from 95,559 participants, aimed to assess the relationship between various sleep metrics and the incidence of 1,049 health conditions.
The study derived key sleep metrics using the SleepNet algorithm, including rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, stages N1, N2, and N3, total sleep duration, sleep irregularity, and wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO). Participants were followed up for a median period of 8.9 years, until the first occurrence of disease, death, or April 1, 2024.
The study found that variations in sleep patterns were linked to 156 different diseases. Higher amounts of REM sleep and deep sleep were associated with a reduced risk of 83 and 7 diseases, respectively. Conversely, increased sleep irregularity and longer wakefulness after sleep onset were associated with higher risks of 3 and 6 diseases, respectively.
Furthermore, the researchers utilized restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses to evaluate the non-linear relationships between sleep duration and 86 disease phenotypes. The results revealed significant non-linear associations, suggesting that maintaining 6-8 hours of sleep is associated with a more favorable sleep architecture and lower disease risk.
In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the differential contributions of sleep stages and sleep duration on disease risk across multiple systems. The findings emphasize the importance of adhering to the recommended 6-8 hours of sleep per night for optimal health and prevention of various health conditions.
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