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The following is a summary of “Association of Sleep Traits With Venous Thromboembolism: Prospective Cohort and Mendelian Randomization Studies,” published in the January 2025 issue of Hematology by Li et al.
Sleep traits are linked to venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk, but causality remains unclear.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study using UK Biobank data to assess sleep traits and VTE risk, including causal links via mendelian randomization (MR).
They calculated HRs and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for sleep score, sleep traits (duration, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, snoring, chronotype), and VTE risk using Cox regression. They used 2-sample MR with the inverse-variance weighted method to determine odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for causal associations.
The results showed that among 314,077 VTE-free participants followed for 12.3 years, 7,176 developed VTE. A sleep score of 5 lowered VTE risk by 30% (HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.61–0.80) compared to 0–1. A U-shaped link was found, with short (≤6 h) and long (≥9 h) sleep increasing risk. Excessive daytime sleepiness, snoring, and evening chronotype also raised risk. MR analyses confirmed a causal link for short sleep (OR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.04–1.47), while other traits showed no causal association.
Investigators highlighted the role of optimal sleep in lowering VTE risk.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajh.27620
