Disrupted delta wave activity during sleep predicts CVD, death

Disruption of the delta wave activity while sleeping may be used to pinpoint individuals who are at heightened risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD mortality, according to a study.

Using a comprehensive power spectral entropy-based method, a team of investigators examined delta wave activity during sleep based on overnight polysomnograms in a total of 4,058 participants in the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) and 2,193 participants in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS) Sleep study.

Overall, 729 participants experienced incident CVD, and 192 died due to CVD during 11.0 years of follow-up in SHHS. In MrOS, incident CVD occurred in 547 participants, while CVD mortality claimed 391 lives during 15.5 years of follow-up.

Multivariate analysis adjusting for covariates revealed the association of lower delta wave entropy with increased risks for coronary heart disease (SHHS: hazard ratio [HR], 1.46, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.02‒2.06; p=0.03; MrOS: HR, 1.79, 95 percent CI, 1.17‒2.73; p<0.01), CVD (SHHS: HR, 1.60, 95 percent CI, 1.21‒2.11; p<0.01; MrOS: HR, 1.43, 95 percent CI, 1.00‒2.05; p=0.05), and CVD mortality (SHHS: HR, 1.94, 95 percent CI, 1.18‒3.18; p<0.01; MrOS: HR, 1.66, 95 percent CI, 1.12‒2.47; p=0.01).

“The Shapley Additive Explanations method indicates that low delta wave entropy was more predictive of coronary heart disease, CVD, and CVD mortality risks than conventional sleep parameters,” the investigators said.

“Delta wave activity is a prominent feature of deep sleep, which is significantly associated with sleep quality,” they explained.