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Sleep Duration and White Matter Quality in Middle-Aged Adults
Yaffe K, Nasrallah I, Hoang TD, Lauderdale DS, Knutson KL, Carnethon MR, Launer LJ, Lewis CE et al.. Sleep, 2016-09-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Study objectives Sleep duration has been associated with risk of dementia and stroke, but few studies have investigated the relationship between sleep duration and brain MRI measures, particularly in middle age. Methods In a prospective cohort of 613 black and white adults (mean age = 45.4 years) enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, participants reported typical sleep duration, dichotomized into moderate sleep duration (> 6 to ≤ 8 h) and short sleep duration (≤ 6 h) at baseline (2005-2006). Five years later, we obtained brain MRI markers of white matter including fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and white matter hyperintensities. Results Compared to moderate sleepers, short sleepers had an elevated ratio of white matter hyperintensities to normal tissue in the parietal region (OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.47, 3.61) adjusted for age, race/sex, education, hypertension, stroke/TIA, depression, smoking status, and physical activity. White matter diffusivity was also higher, approximately a 0.2 standard deviation difference, in frontal, parietal, and temporal white matter regions, among those reporting shorter sleep duration in (P Conclusions Short sleep duration was associated with worse markers of white matter integrity in midlife. These mid-life differences in white matter may underlie the link between poor sleep and risk of dementia and stroke.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Yaffe, K., Nasrallah, I., Hoang, T. D., Lauderdale, D. S., Knutson, K. L., Carnethon, M. R., et al. (2016). Sleep Duration and White Matter Quality in Middle-Aged Adults. Sleep. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.6104
Vancouver
Yaffe K, Nasrallah I, Hoang TD, Lauderdale DS, Knutson KL, Carnethon MR, et al. Sleep Duration and White Matter Quality in Middle-Aged Adults. Sleep. 2016. doi:10.5665/sleep.6104. PMID: 27397561.
BibTeX
@article{yaffe2016-27397561,
author = {Yaffe, K. and Nasrallah, I. and Hoang, T. D. and Lauderdale, D. S. and Knutson, K. L. and Carnethon, M. R. and Launer, L. J. and Lewis, C. E. and others},
title = {{Sleep Duration and White Matter Quality in Middle-Aged Adults}},
journal = {Sleep},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.5665/sleep.6104},
pmid = {27397561},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.6104}
}
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Key findings
- Study objectives Sleep duration has been associated with risk of dementia and stroke, but few studies have investigated the relationship between sleep duration and brain MRI measures, particularly in middle age.
- Results Compared to moderate sleepers, short sleepers had an elevated ratio of white matter hyperintensities to normal tissue in the parietal region (OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.47, 3.61) adjusted for age, race/sex, education, hypertension, stroke/TIA, depression, smoking status, and physical activity.
- White matter diffusivity was also higher, approximately a 0.2 standard deviation difference, in frontal, parietal, and temporal white matter regions, among those reporting shorter sleep duration in (P < 0.05 for all).
Why it matters
In this cohort of middle-aged adults, short sleep duration was associated with worse markers of white matter integrity on brain MRI five years later. The authors suggest these mid-life white matter differences may underlie the link between poor sleep and dementia risk, but this study did not measure dementia itself.
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Study details
- Study designprospective cohort
- Effect sizeOR = 2.31
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 64/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a prospective cohort study, followed forward from enrollment. Scored zero for sample size and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Sleep) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | SLEEP: journal h-index 308 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A prospective cohort study, followed forward from enrollment |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 100 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 8.3 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 33 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Stephen S Sidney: h-index 84 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | National Institutes of Health: institution h-index 2,723 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 12 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27397561) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 64 / 100 | — |
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