Impact of Yo-Yo Sleep on Cardiometabolic Health

Columbia University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Cardiometabolic Syndrome; Obesity

Treatments: Behavioral: Intermittent Short Sleep (ISS); Behavioral: Social Jetlag (SJL); Behavioral: Sustained Adequate Sleep (SAS)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT05880758

R35HL155670 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

AAAU3694

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the impact of repeated intermittent short sleep, with short sleep maintained 5 days per week followed by 2 days of prolonged sleep, compared to daily adequate sleep, on energy balance and cardiometabolic risk. A secondary goal of this research is to determine if maintaining a constant midpoint of sleep while undergoing intermittent short sleep, leads to better outcomes than intermittent short sleep with a 2-hour delay in sleep midpoint. The aims of this research will be tested in the context of a 3-group, parallel-arm, outpatient intervention of 4 weeks in duration, in young-to-middle-aged adults (aged 18-49 years).

Full description

A large portion of the U.S. adult population reports insufficient sleep on a nightly basis. It has been shown that sustained insufficient sleep leads to adverse cardiometabolic risk profile and positive energy balance. However, sleep patterns in real life are not consistent over weeks. Individuals not obtaining sufficient sleep during the week may compensate by sleeping longer on weekends. The differences in sleep duration between week and weekend nights is approximately 1 hour, mostly due to delaying wake times rather than advancing bedtimes. A drawback of such behaviors is resultant change in sleep midpoint, which has been associated with adverse cardiometabolic health and obesity. However, very few studies have attempted to determine whether recovery sleep on weekends results in reversal of adverse health effects of insufficient sleep during the week. Available studies suggest that recovery sleep does not revert health markers to pre-sleep restriction (SR) levels. But these studies are short, usually involving only one cycle of SR followed by recovery sleep, and fail to use appropriate and robust statistical methods. Therefore, the goal of the current investigation is to evaluate the impact of repeated intermittent short sleep, with short sleep maintained 5 days/week followed by 2 days of recovery sleep, relative to daily adequate sleep, on energy balance and cardiometabolic risk markers. A secondary goal of this research is to determine if maintaining a constant sleep timing while undergoing intermittent short sleep, leads to better outcomes than intermittent short sleep in conjunction with shifts in sleep times.

Enrollment: 72 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 49 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 18 to 49 years
• BMI 20-29.9 kg/m2
• Habitually sleeping 7-9 hours/night without sleep aids or naps

Exclusion criteria

• Sleep disorders
• Psychiatric disorders (including eating disorders) and seasonal affective disorder
• Pregnancy (current/prior year)
• Breastfeeding
• Smokers (Any cigarette smoking or ex-smokers <3years)
• Diabetes
• Elevated blood pressure, taking beta-blockers
• Individuals taking anti-coagulants or anti-platelets
• Recent weight change or participation in a weight loss program or have ever had bariatric surgery or other weight loss or gastrointestinal procedure.
• Travel across time zones; shift work (non-traditional hours)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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72 participants in 3 patient groups

Stable Adequate Sleep (SAS)

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will go to bed and wake up at the same time every night, maintaining adequate sleep duration.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sustained Adequate Sleep (SAS)

ISS_Alone

Experimental group

Description:

Intermittent short sleep (ISS) 5 nights of 5.5 hours time in bed 2 nights of 9.5 hours time in bed with advanced bedtimes and delayed wake times

Treatment:

Behavioral: Intermittent Short Sleep (ISS)

ISS_SJL

Experimental group

Description:

Intermittent short sleep with short jetlag (SJL) 5 nights of 5.5 hours time in bed 2 nights of 9.5 hours time in bed with constant bedtimes and delayed wake times

Treatment:

Behavioral: Intermittent Short Sleep (ISS)

Behavioral: Social Jetlag (SJL)