Daily sleep duration and risk of metabolic syndrome among middle-aged and older Chinese adults: cross-sectional evidence from the Dongfeng–Tongji cohort study

BACKGROUND Evidence from epidemiological studies has demonstrated that a shorter or longer duration of nighttime sleep may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome. Little is known about the association between daily sleep duration, including nighttime sleep and daytime napping duration, and metabolic syndrome. We aimed to examine the association between daily sleep duration and metabolic syndrome and its components in middle-aged and older Chinese adults using data from the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort study. METHODS A total of 25,184 participants (mean age 63.6 years) who completed the baseline questionnaire, physical examination and laboratory tests were included in this analysis. Daily sleep duration was calculated by summing up nighttime sleep duration and daytime napping duration. The metabolic syndrome was defined using the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between daily sleep duration and the risk of metabolic syndrome and its components. RESULTS Of the participants, 8,046 (31.9%) had metabolic syndrome. Females had a higher prevalence (38.6%) of metabolic syndrome than males (23.9%). Female participants with longer daily sleep duration (≥8 hours, all P < 0.05) per day had a higher risk of metabolic syndrome compared with those sleeping 7-7.9 hours, adjusting for potential confounders. Longer daily sleep was positively associated with individual components of metabolic syndrome except central obesity in females, and was only positively associated with HDL-C in males. Further analysis revealed that a longer duration of daytime napping (≥90 minutes, P < 0.05) was associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome in females. However, nighttime sleep duration was not associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome in either males or females. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggested that longer daytime napping duration rather than nighttime sleeping duration was associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome in females. The findings have significant implications for further studies to explore the appropriate sleep duration for middle-aged and older adults.