Association between sleep duration and sleep quality, and metabolic syndrome in Taiwanese police officers

Objectives This study’s objective was to examine association between sleep duration and sleep quality, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in Taiwanese male police officers. Material and Methods Male police officers who underwent annual health examinations were invited to join the study and eventually a total of 796 subjects was included in it. The study subjects were divided into 5 groups according to the length (duration) of sleep: < 5, 5–5.9, 6–6.9, 7–7.9 and ≥ 8 h per day, and the global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to categorize their sleep quality as good or poor. To analyze the association between sleep problems and MetS, adjusted odds ratio and respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed. Results The prevalence of MetS in Taiwanese male police officers was 24.5%. Abdominal obesity had the highest proportion (36.2%) among 5 components of MetS. More than 1/2 of the police officers (52.3%) had poor sleep quality. Police officers with higher scores of sleep disturbances had a higher prevalence of MetS (p = 0.029) and abdominal obesity (p = 0.009). After adjusting for age, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking status, alcohol drinking habit, physical habitual exercise, snoring and type of shift work, the police officers who slept less than 5 h were 88% more likely to suffer from abdominal obesity than those who slept 7–7.9 h (95% CI: 1.01–3.5). Sleep quality was not associated with MetS and its components. Conclusions The police officers who slept less than 5 h were more likely to experience abdominal obesity in Taiwan, and those with higher scores of sleep disturbances had a higher prevalence of MetS and abdominal obesity. It is recommended that police officers with short sleep duration or sleep disturbances be screened for MetS and waist circumference in order to prevent cardiovascular diseases.