Accelerometer‐measured weekend catch‐up sleep and incident dementia: A prospective cohort study

Abstract INTRODUCTION Healthy sleep may support cognitive health, but the role of weekend catch‐up sleep is unclear. METHODS Among 83,776 dementia‐free UK Biobank participants aged ≥50 years, sleep duration was estimated from 7‐day accelerometer data (2013–2015). Weekend catch‐up sleep was defined as the weekend–weekday sleep duration difference. Cox regression model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all‐cause dementia associated with weekend catch‐up sleep. RESULTS During follow‐up (median: 8.0 years), 713 participants developed all‐cause dementia. Compared with ≤0.5 h, HRs for all‐cause dementia across catch‐up sleep categories were 0.91 (0.74–1.11) for > 0.5–1 h, 0.64 (0.49–0.86) for > 1–1.5 h, 0.84 (0.60–1.16) for > 1.5–2 h, and 0.83 (0.60–1.16) for > 2 h. The association was stronger among participants with weekday sleep < 8 h (HR: 0.49, 0.29–0.81 for > 1–1.5 h) but non‐significant in those with ≥8 h ( p ‐interaction = 0.039). DISCUSSION Moderate weekend catch‐up sleep was linked to lower dementia risk, especially among individuals with less weekday sleep. Highlights In this prospective cohort study, moderate accelerometer‐measured weekend catch‐up sleep was linked to a reduced risk of dementia, with 1–1.5 h associated with the lowest risk. The relation was more pronounced in participants with weekday sleep duration < 8 h/day, but non‐significant among those with a longer weekday sleep. Similar associations were observed across the subgroups stratified by sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.