Day-to-day deviations in sleep parameters and biological aging: Findings from the NHANES 2011-2014

• Published in: Sleep health 2023-12, Vol.9 (6), p.940-946
• Main Authors: Wang, Xiaoling, Xu, Yanyan, Li, Xinyue, Mansuri, Asifhusen, McCall, William V, Liu, Yutao, Su, Shaoyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aging; Circadian Rhythm - physiology; Humans; Jet Lag Syndrome; Nutrition Surveys; Sleep - physiology
• ISSN: 2352-7218; 2352-7226; 2352-7226
• DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2023.07.018

The majority of the previous research has focused on the impact of average sleep parameters on longevity. In this study, we aimed to investigate the associations of day-to-day deviations in sleep parameters with biological ages among 6052 adults participating in the 2011-2014 waves of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Sleep parameters, including sleep duration, efficiency, midpoint, and day-to-day deviations in sleep parameters, including standard deviation of sleep duration (sleep variability), standard deviation of sleep midpoint (sleep irregularity), catch-up sleep, and social jetlag, were obtained from 4 to 7 days of 24-h accelerometer recording. We used physiological data to compute measurements of biological aging according to 3 published algorithms: PhenoAge, Klemera-Doubal method Biological Age, and homeostatic dysregulation. After adjustment of multiple covariates, we observed that all parameters of day-to-day deviations in sleep were significantly associated with biological aging with larger sleep variability, larger sleep irregularity, more catch-up sleep, and more social jetlag linked with more advanced biological aging. The significant associations of sleep irregularity, catch-up sleep, and social jetlag with biological aging indices remained even after adjustment for sleep duration, efficiency, and midpoint. In this study, we found that day-to-day deviations in sleep parameters are independently associated with biological aging in US general population. Since day-to-day deviation in sleep is a modifiable behavioral factor, our finding suggests that intervention aiming at increasing regularity in sleep patterns may be a novel approach for extending a healthy life span.