Associations of dietary patterns with objective and subjective sleep duration and sleep quality in a population-based cohort study

Objective To examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of various types of dietary patterns with self-reported sleep quality and with actigraphy-estimated sleep parameters in the prospective, population-based Rotterdam Study. Methods For each participant, scores for five different dietary patterns were derived based on food frequency questionnaires; two pre-defined scores developed to estimate adherence to the Dutch dietary guidelines and to the Mediterranean diet; and three data-driven scores indicating a prudent, unhealthy and typical Dutch diet. In 2,589 participants (median age 56.9 years; 58% female), self-rated sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. In 533 participants, actigraphs were worn for an average of 6.8 days (SD: 0.7) to estimate total sleep time, sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, and sleep efficiency. Sleep parameters were measured at baseline and 3-6 years later. Multiple linear regression was used to assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations. Results No statistically significant associations between dietary patterns and total sleep time, sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency and subjective sleep quality were observed in cross-sectional or longitudinal analyses. To illustrate, the effect estimate for sleep duration was 2.7 minutes per night (95% CI -2.1, 7.5) per 5 point increase in Mediterranean diet score in the cross-sectional analyses. Furthermore, in longitudinal analyses, the effect estimate for sleep duration was -1.0 minutes per night (95% CI -5.2, 3.1) per SD increase in the prudent diet. Conclusions Our results suggest that dietary patterns are not associated with sleep in this population-based cohort study. Trial registration Netherlands National Trial Register and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP; https://apps.who.int/trialsearch/. Klik of tik als u deze koppeling vertrouwt.">https://apps.who.int/trialsearch/) shared catalogue number NL6645 / NTR6831. Registered November 13th, 2017