Sleep and its Relationship to Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease

• Published in: Current cardiovascular risk reports Vol. 7; no. 5; pp. 387 - 394
• Main Authors: Kingsbury, John H., Buxton, Orfeu M., Emmons, Karen M., Redline, Susan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.10.2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: African Americans; Age; Blood pressure; Brain research; Cardiology; Cardiovascular disease; Coronary vessels; Cultural differences; Diabetes; Heart rate; Hispanic Americans; Hormones; Hypertension; Insomnia; Insulin; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolism; Minority & ethnic groups; Nervous system; Physiology; Race and ethnicity Disparities (M Albert; Racial differences; Risk factors; Section Editor; Sleep apnea; Sleep disorders; Stroke; Surveillance; Young adults; United States > US; Ethnicity; Sleep; Insomnia; Race; Cardiovascular disease; Disparities; Sleep duration; Sleep-disordered breathing; disparities; sleep; cardiovascular disease; sleep duration; ethnicity; race; sleep-disordered breathing; insomnia
• ISSN: 1932-9520; 1932-9563
• DOI: 10.1007/s12170-013-0330-0

There are substantial racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease in the U.S., but few mechanisms have emerged as feasible intervention targets. A growing body of research suggests that racial/ethnic differences in sleep deficiency, including extreme sleep duration, sleep-disordered breathing, and insomnia, may help explain disparities in cardiovascular disease. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying racial/ethnic disparities in sleep. In this article, we review the extant literature on sleep and cardiovascular outcomes (eg, hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease) and racial/ethnic differences in these relations. We also discuss possible mechanisms that might help explain racial/ethnic sleep disparities, including neighborhood disadvantage, psychosocial and occupational stressors, acculturation, and treatment access and adherence. More research is needed to establish causal linkages among race/ethnicity, sleep, and these mechanisms, but existing evidence suggests that targeting these factors in interventions may reduce racial/ethnic sleep disparities and improve primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among all racial/ethnic groups.