Sina Kianersi, PhD

Pronouns

He/Him/His

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Academic Rank

Research Fellow

Department

Medicine

Authors

Sina Kianersi, Yue Liu, Susan Redline, Eva Schernhammer, Qi Sun, Tianyi Huang

Principal Investigator

Tianyi Huang

Research Category: Cardiovascular, Diabetes, and Metabolic Disorders

Tags

Associations between chronotype and lifestyle factors among American women; a cross-sectional analysis in the Nurses’ Health Study II

Scientific Abstract

Objective: Chronotype refers to one’s inclination to earlier or later sleeping times. Having a late chronotype has been linked to increased cardiometabolic risk, which may be mediated through adherence to unhealthy lifestyle. This study aimed to evaluate the association between chronotype and lifestyle factors.

Methods: In 2009, 74,668 women in the Nurses’ Health Study II self-reported their chronotype using a validated question from the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Unhealthy lifestyle was defined by having three or more of the following: low diet quality, physical inactivity, non-moderate alcohol intake, body mass index≥25, current smoking, and short/long sleep. We used modified Poisson regression models to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) for unhealthy lifestyle according to chronotype

Results: Around 12% of participants reported a “definitely-evening” type. These participants were 50% more likely to have an unhealthy lifestyle compared to participants with a “definitely-morning” type [aPR (95% CI): 1.50 (1.47-1.54)]. There was a graded association when comparing “more-evening” [1.28 (1.25-1.31)], “neither” [1.19 (1.14, 1.24)], and “more-morning” [1.08 (1.05, 1.10)] types with the “definitely-morning” type (p-trend<0.0001). Similar associations were observed for individual lifestyle factors, with stronger associations for physical inactivity and current smoking.

Conclusion: Women with a late chronotype are more likely to engage in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors that may lead to higher cardiometabolic risk.

Lay Abstract

Objective: Chronotype refers to one’s inclination to earlier or later sleeping times. Having a late chronotype has been linked to increased cardiometabolic risk, which may be mediated through adherence to unhealthy lifestyle. This study aimed to evaluate the association between chronotype and lifestyle factors.

Methods: In 2009, 74,668 women in the Nurses’ Health Study II self-reported their chronotype using a validated question from the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Unhealthy lifestyle was defined by having three or more of the following: low diet quality, physical inactivity, non-moderate alcohol intake, body mass index≥25, current smoking, and short/long sleep. We used modified Poisson regression models to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) for unhealthy lifestyle according to chronotype

Results: Around 12% of participants reported a “definitely-evening” type. These participants were 50% more likely to have an unhealthy lifestyle compared to participants with a “definitely-morning” type [aPR (95% CI): 1.50 (1.47-1.54)]. There was a graded association when comparing “more-evening” [1.28 (1.25-1.31)], “neither” [1.19 (1.14, 1.24)], and “more-morning” [1.08 (1.05, 1.10)] types with the “definitely-morning” type (p-trend<0.0001). Similar associations were observed for individual lifestyle factors, with stronger associations for physical inactivity and current smoking.

Conclusion: Women with a late chronotype are more likely to engage in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors that may lead to higher cardiometabolic risk.

Clinical Implications

Late chronotype is a genetically predisposed, potentially increasing, cardiometabolic risk. Late chronotype is associated with unhealthy lifestyles, which are established cardiometabolic risk factors. Clinicians may consider lifestyle interventions when developing strategies to reduce cardiometabolic risk in late chronotype individuals.