Metabolic syndrome and sleep duration in police officers

Objectives: To examine associations for sleep quality and quantity with metabolic syndrome (MS) and its five components in police officers. Patients or Participants: The study population consisted of 98 randomly selected officers (39 women and 59 men) for whom MS and sleep data were available. Methods: Sleep duration (categorized as short < 6 hours, long ≥ 6 hours) for the past week and quality of sleep were collected by interviewer-administered questionnaires. MS was assessed using standard criteria. Generalized linear models were used to assess associations between sleep duration or sleep quality and MS, and the mean number of MS components. Results: Metabolic syndrome was present in 22.0% and 2.6% of the male and female officers, respectively. Women with short sleep had a significantly higher mean number of MS components (mean=1.43) than those with longer sleep (mean=0.81, p=0.0316). Officers who stopped breathing during the night had more MS components (mean=2.43) compared to those who did not (mean =1.13, p=0.0206). Conclusions: Sleep duration and quality were associated with the mean number of MS components, particularly in women. Future research should examine these associations prospectively, in a larger cohort, exploring possible gender differences.