Multidimensional Sleep Health: Definitions and Implications for Cardiometabolic Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2025 May;18(5):e000139. doi: 10.1161/HCQ.0000000000000139. Epub 2025 Apr 14.

Abstract

Poor sleep health is associated with cardiometabolic disease and related risk factors, including heart disease, stroke, elevated blood pressure and lipid levels, inflammation, glucose intolerance, obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet, unhealthy substance use, poor mental health, and increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and is associated with social determinants of cardiovascular health and health disparities. Therefore, sleep duration has been recognized by the American Heart Association as one of Life's Essential 8. Although chronic sleep duration is the sole metric used in Life's Essential 8, sleep health represents a multidimensional construct. This scientific statement outlines the concept of multidimensional sleep health (sleep duration, continuity, timing, regularity, sleep-related daytime functioning, architecture, and absence of sleep disorders) as it applies to cardiometabolic health. Considerations of how these dimensions are related to cardiometabolic health and patterned by sociodemographic status are explained, and knowledge gaps are highlighted. Additional data are needed to understand better how these various dimensions of sleep should be assessed and how interventions targeting sleep health in clinical and community settings can be leveraged to improve health.

Keywords: AHA Scientific Statements; sleep; sleep duration; sleep quality.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • American Heart Association
  • Cardiometabolic Risk Factors
  • Cardiovascular Diseases* / diagnosis
  • Cardiovascular Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases* / physiopathology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases* / prevention & control
  • Consensus
  • Health Status Disparities
  • Humans
  • Prognosis
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Sleep Quality*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders* / diagnosis
  • Sleep Wake Disorders* / epidemiology
  • Sleep Wake Disorders* / physiopathology
  • Sleep Wake Disorders* / therapy
  • Sleep*
  • Social Determinants of Health
  • Terminology as Topic*
  • Time Factors
  • United States / epidemiology