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.