Insufficient sleep during adolescence and risk of multiple sclerosis: results from a Swedish case-control study.

BACKGROUND

Shift work, which often results in sleep deprivation and circadian desynchrony, has been associated with increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). We aimed at studying the impact of sleep duration, circadian disruption and sleep quality on MS risk.

METHODS

We used a Swedish population-based case-control study (2075 cases, 3164 controls). Aspects of sleep were associated with MS risk by calculating OR with 95% CIs using logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Compared with sleeping 7-9 hours/night during adolescence, short sleep (<7 hours/night) was associated with increased risk of developing MS (OR 1.4, 95% OR 1.1-1.7). Similarly, subjective low sleep quality during adolescence increased the risk of subsequently developing MS (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.9), whereas phase shift did not significantly influence the risk. Our findings remained similar when those who worked shifts were excluded.

CONCLUSIONS

Insufficient sleep and low sleep quality during adolescence seem to increase the risk of subsequently developing MS. Sufficient restorative sleep at young age, needed for adequate immune functioning, may be a preventive factor against MS.

Informations de copyright

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: TÅ has been supported by Tercentenary fund of Bank of Sweden, AFA Insurance and European Aviation Safety Authority. LA reports grants from Swedish Research Council, grants from Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare, grants from Swedish Brain Foundation, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from Teva, personal fees from Biogene Idec, outside the submitted work. TO has received lecture/advisory board honoraria, and unrestricted MS research grants from Biogen, Novartis, Sanofi and Merck.