Is poor sleep quality associated with lipid profile in elderly population? Finding from Iranian Longitudinal Study on Ageing.

Background: Abnormal lipid profile as one of reversible cardiovascular disease risk factors might be affected by poor sleep quality.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the association between poor sleep quality and serum concentration of lipid profile in Iranian elderly population.

Methods: The study was performed on a representative sample of 3452 Iranian older people (≥60 years) who contributed in the Iranian Longitudinal Study on Ageing (IRLSA). Sleep quality was measured through the validated Persian version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Fasting blood samples were collected from the participants to measure plasma levels lipid profile. We used multiple linear regression model to evaluate the independent association of poor sleep quality with lipid profile.

Results: The mean age of participants was 68.0±6.7 years and 52.5% of them were male. In total, 52.4% of study population reported poor sleep quality (PSQI>5). Mean serum concentration of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was 143.2±74.2 mg/dl, 195.6±43.2 mg/dl, 112.9±31.0 mg/dl, and 57.3±12.4 mg/dl, respectively. Poor sleep quality was significantly associated with serum levels of TG (β=17.85; P=0.006), LDL-C (β=5.45; P=0.039) and HDL-C (β=-2.13; P=0.039) after adjusting for studied covariates.

Conclusion: Our study illustrates that poor sleep quality is a risk factor for poorer lipid profile. Therefore, early behavioral or pharmacological interventions that improve sleep quality are necessary to modify lipid profile in elderly population.