The risk of chronic kidney disease or proteinuria with long or short sleep duration: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

Irregular sleep duration has been linked with systemic diseases as well as chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, most of the evidence is low-quality and from cross-sectional data. We hereby present a meta-analysis of cohort studies examining the longitudinal association between short and long sleep with the risk of CKD or proteinuria.

Databases of Embase, PubMed, CENTRAL, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched up to 5th April 2024. The risk of CKD/proteinuria was assessed with short or long sleep duration.

Nine studies were included. Both short and long sleep duration were associated with a mild increase in the risk of CKD/proteinuria. Based on different cutoffs for short sleep, we noted that sleep of ≤ 7 h was not associated with a significantly increased risk of CKD/proteinuria. A mild significant risk was noted in the subgroup of ≤ 6 h while a significant association was noted for sleep ≤ 5 h. For longer sleep duration, individuals with ≥ 8 h of sleep had an increased risk of CKD/proteinuria. However, the results were non-significant for individuals with ≥ 9 h of sleep. Non-significant results were noted for separate analyses on male, female, high body mass index, and elderly (≥ 60 years) individuals.

Both short and long sleep durations are associated with a significant increase in the risk of CKD/proteinuria in the adult population.