Longer time spent in bed attempting to sleep is associated with rapid renal function decline: the Dongfeng–Tongji cohort study

Abstract

Introduction: Prospective evidence on the relation between time in bed and renal dysfunction remains limited. We aimed to investigate the association of time spent in bed attempting to sleep (TSBS) with renal function decline in a middle-aged and elderly Chinese population.

Methods: About 16,733 eligible participants with a mean age of 62.3 years at baseline were included. Rapid renal function decline was defined as (baseline eGFR − revisit eGFR)/years of follow-up ≥5 mL/min per 1.73 m²/year. A total of 1738 study participants experienced rapid renal function decline after a median 4.6-year follow-up. Logistic regression models were used for multivariate analyses.

Results: The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of rapid renal function decline was 1.18 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.37) for TSBS ≥9 h/night compared with TSBS 7 to <8 h/night. This association remained significant (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.38) after further adjustment for sleep quality, midday napping and usage of sleeping pills. Particularly, the association appeared to be prominent in individuals with diabetes.

Conclusions: Longer TSBS (≥9 h) was independently associated with an increased risk of rapid renal function decline. Our findings emphasized the importance to have optimal TSBS.

Key messages

• Our study firstly investigated the association between time spent in bed attempting to sleep (TSBS) and renal dysfunction in Chinese adults.

• Compared with individuals TSBS 7 to <8 h, individuals with TSBS ≥9 h had 19% increased risk for rapid renal function decline after adjustment for multivariate confounders.

• The association appeared to be prominent in individuals with diabetes.

Keywords:

• Time spent in bed attempting to sleep
• renal function
• follow-up

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural National Scientific Foundation of China (81373093, 81230069 and 81390542); China Medical Board (No. 12-113); the National Key Program of Research and Development of China (2016YFC0900800).