Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the world?s leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and evidence is mounting that poor sleep may be a significant behavioral risk factor for CVD. Although the majority of current research has focused on the CVD risk associated with sleep disordered breathing (SDB), an emerging body of evidence suggests that insomnia, short sleep duration, and, most prominently, the combination of insomnia and short sleep, may also confer significant CVD risk. Identification of insomnia, short sleep duration, and/or their combination as a behavioral risk factor for CVD would have significant
Insomnia and insufficient sleep duration have each been associated with greater risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) but uncertainty remains whether they are independent risk factors for CVD. This project will examine whether insomnia, short sleep duration, and/or their combination are associated with indices of subclinical cardiovascular disease in a healthy sample without confounding influences. The proposed research has significant public health relevance due to the high prevalence of insomnia and insufficient sleep duration and the long-term possibility that their associated CVD risk may be modifiable.
