Sleep Duration Trajectories and Systemic Inflammation in Young Adults: Results From the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health)

Study Objectives: This study examines the effects of short and long sleep duration patterns in young adults on the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), as well as the potential effect modification by sex. Methods: Using data from waves III (age 18-26) and IV (age 24-32) of the National Longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health, we examined the association between sleep trajectories in young adults, and the risk of elevated high sensitivity-CRP (hs-CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation. Results: Short sleep trajectories were associated with significantly elevated log-transformed hs-CRP (coefficient = 0.11, p-value.03) and with significantly higher odds of having hs-CRP levels > 3 mg/L (OR = 1.86, 95% CI 1.29, 2.67). The association was modified by sex, with the association between short sleep duration and hs-CRP limited to males. Both the continuous (coefficient 0.117, p-value = .0362) and the categorized hs-CRP (OR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.48, 3.30) were significantly elevated with short sleep durations in males, whereas no significant associations were seen in females with short sleep durations. By contrast, log hs-CRP was significantly elevated in females with long sleep durations (coefficient = 0.232, p-value = .0296), with a nonsignificant increase in the odds of having hs-CRP levels greater than 3 mg/L (OR = 1.48, 95% CI 0.75, 2.93), whereas there were no associations with long sleep duration in males. Conclusions: Systemic inflammation, measured by an elevated level of hs-CRP, is seen with persistent short sleep duration in young adult men and persistent long sleep duration in young adult women.