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. 2018 Feb;14(2):157-166.
doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.06.2269. Epub 2017 Jul 21.

Sleep characteristics and risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Pamela L Lutsey  1 , Jeffrey R Misialek  2 , Thomas H Mosley  3 , Rebecca F Gottesman  4 , Naresh M Punjabi  5 , Eyal Shahar  6 , Richard MacLehose  7 , Rachel P Ogilvie  7 , David Knopman  8 , Alvaro Alonso  9
Affiliations

Sleep characteristics and risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Pamela L Lutsey et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction: This study tested the hypotheses that late-midlife obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and short and long sleep duration are associated with dementia over 15 years of follow-up.

Methods: A total of 1667 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study participants underwent in-home polysomnography (1996-1998) and were followed for dementia. Dementia was defined by (1) hospitalization diagnosis codes (1996-2012) and (2) a comprehensive neurocognitive examination (2011-2013) with adjudication.

Results: OSA and sleep duration were not associated with risk of incident dementia. When using adjudicated outcomes, severe OSA (≥30 vs. <5 apnea-hypopnea events/hour) was associated with higher risk of all-cause dementia (risk ratio [95% confidence interval], 2.35 [1.06-5.18]) and Alzheimer's disease dementia (1.66 [1.03-2.68]); associations were attenuated with cardiovascular risk factor adjustment. Sleeping <7 versus 8 to ≤9 hours was associated with higher risk of all-cause dementia (2.00 [1.03-3.86]).

Discussion: When adjudicated outcome definitions were used, late-midlife OSA and short sleep duration were associated with all-cause and Alzheimer's disease dementia in later life.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study; Dementia; Mild cognitive impairment; Obstructive sleep apnea; Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS); Sleep duration.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts

The authors have indicated no financial conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant flow chart for incidence and inverse probability-weighted analyses IPW = inverse probability weighting
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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