Shorter Leukocyte Telomere Length in Midlife Women with Poor Sleep Quality

Background . Accumulating evidence supports leukocyte telomere length (LTL) as a biological marker of cellular aging. Poor sleep is a risk factor for age-related disease; however, the extent to which sleep accounts for variation in LTL is unknown. Methods . The present study examined associations of self-reported sleep duration, onset latency, and subjective quality with LTL in a community-dwelling sample of 245 healthy women in midlife (aged 49–66 years). Results . While sleep duration and onset latency were unrelated to LTL, women reporting poorer sleep quality displayed shorter LTL ( r = 0.14, P = 0.03), independent of age, BMI, race, and income ( b = 55.48, SE = 27.43, P = 0.04). When analyses were restricted to participants for whom sleep patterns were chronic, poorer sleep quality predicted shorter LTL independent of covariates and perceived psychological stress. Conclusions . This study provides the first evidence that poor sleep quality explains significant variation in LTL, a marker of cellular aging.