Is Self-Reported Sleep Duration Associated with Osteoporosis? Data from a 4-Year Aggregated Analysis from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Objectives: To examine the association between self-reported sleep duration and osteoporosis in a national sample of the U.S. elderly population.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional study.

Setting: Four-year National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from two survey cycles between 2005-06 and 2007-08.

Participants: Men and women aged 50 and older with data in the surveys and medical examination data files (N = 5,288).

Measurements: Osteoporosis diagnosis was based on bone mineral density measurement and self-report. Sleep duration was ascertained from the sleep survey. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between these two factors.

Results: Shorter sleep duration (<6 hours) was found to be significantly associated with osteoporosis after adjusting for potential covariates (odds ratio (OR) = 1.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07-2.37). After stratifying according to age group, this association remained significant (OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.20-2.68) only in the older age group (>65).

Conclusion: These results underscore the possible linkage between sleep and osteoporosis and the need for additional research on this topic.