Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Black/African American (BAA) adults, and to a greater extent in BAAs who smoke cigarettes. Sleep is an emergent predictor of CVD, yet the independent role of sleep health on CVD risk in BAA smokers is unclear. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that better sleep health metrics would be independently associated with more favorable biomarkers of CVD risk in midlife BAA smokers. Methods: BAA adults (n=226, 55.9±6.1y, 44% male) who were current smokers (≥1 cigarette in last month) without sleep-disordered breathing or severe lung disease completed 14 days of wrist actigraphy to assess sleep duration, efficiency, midpoint, and regularity (sleep midpoint standard deviation). Resting blood pressure (BP) and heart rate recovery (HRR; HR peak minus HR 1-min recovery from submaximal exercise) were assessed. Hypertension was defined as resting BP ≥130/80 mmHg, or use of antihypertensives. Multivariable regression models of systolic BP, diastolic BP, hypertension (yes/no), and HRR were generated to test associations between sleep metrics and CVD risk markers after adjusting for key covariates (see Table). Results: In adjusted models, achieving a healthy sleep duration (6-8 h/night) was associated with 62% lower odds of hypertension (vs. <6 or >8h/night; OR=0.38, 95% CI=0.18-0.75). Later sleep midpoint was associated with higher systolic BP (B=1.97 mmHg per 1-h delay in midpoint, 95% CI=0.17-3.81); longer sleep duration (B=1.89 bpm per 1-h increase in duration, 95% CI=0.39-3.39) and greater sleep efficiency (B=0.27 bpm per 1% increase in efficiency, 95% CI=0.08-0.46) were associated with greater HRR. Conclusions: Better sleep health metrics are associated with a lower CVD risk profile in BAA smokers, independent of important confounding factors. Sleep health may represent an auxiliary intervention target for ameliorating the CVD burden experienced by this at-risk group.

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