Association between weekend catch-up sleep and cardiovascular disease: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2017-2018

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the weekend catch-up sleep duration and cardiovascular disease prevalence among adults in the United States. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting The United States. Participants Participants from the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) who were 20 years old or older (n = 3400). Measurements Sociodemographic characteristics, sleep duration (weekday and weekend), and the presence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes were recorded for all participants. Weekend catch-up sleep was defined as sleeping 1 hour longer on weekends than on weekdays. Adjusted multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship of weekend catch-up sleep with cardiovascular disease. Results Participants with cardiovascular disease had shorter weekend catch-up sleep than those without cardiovascular disease (P < .01). Participants with weekend catch-up sleep had a lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease (P < .01) than those with no significant change in weekend sleep duration. An adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that weekend catch-up sleep duration was significantly associated with the prevalence of angina (P = .04), stroke (P < .01), and coronary heart disease (P = .01). Weekend catch-up sleep was associated with reduced cardiovascular disease prevalence when the weekday sleep duration was <6 hours (P < .01). A stratified analysis of participants with <6 hours of sleep on weekdays showed that weekend catch-up sleep duration (>2 hours) was associated with reduced prevalence of cardiovascular disease (P = .01). Conclusion Our findings indicate that weekend catch-up sleep duration of >2 hours is strongly associated with reduced cardiovascular disease prevalence when the sleep duration is <6 hours on weekdays.