Insomnia as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in HIV

3,108 participants from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study were
included in a study of insomnia as a risk factor for CVD. A
five-point scale from “no difficulty” to “bothers a lot” was used
to classify insomnia. Participants with baseline history of CVD
were excluded. Incident CVD events were registered. After a median
follow up of 10.8 years, 267 CDV events occurred. The demographically
adjusted hazard ratio for CVD in the “bothers a lot”
group was 1.64 compared to the “no difficulty”. The difference
was highly statistically significant although there was an overlap
with depression. The authors suggest that insomnia may be a
modifiable risk factor for CVD in HIV.

Ref; Polanka et al. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2019;81:110-117

Comment: It is known from the general population that insomnia
and sleep disturbances like sleep apnea are associated with increased
risk of CVD. It is hardly surprising that this is also true
in HIV-infected individuals and it seems doubtful that this is a
specific HIV related issue.