Association between sleep duration and dyslipidemia in premenopausal and postmenopausal women

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and dyslipidemia—a major risk factor for CVD—varies by sex, age, and menopausal status. While some studies have explored the relationship between sleep duration and dyslipidemia, findings remain inconsistent, and most have not accounted for menopausal status. This study investigates the association between sleep duration and dyslipidemia in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Data from the 2014–2022 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were used to examine 10,115 women aged 40–64 years (4,428 premenopausal; 5,687 postmenopausal). Sleep duration, obtained through self-report, was classified into four groups: <6 h, 6-<7 h, 7-<8 h (reference), and ≥ 8 h per day. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the associations between sleep duration and dyslipidemia, as well as individual lipid abnormalities. Analyses were further conducted separately according to menopausal status. Sleep duration was significantly associated with hypertriglyceridemia. Using 7-<8 h of sleep as the reference category, Model 1 showed higher odds of hypertriglyceridemia among individuals sleeping < 6 h (odds ratio OR: 1.68; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.34–2.10) and ≥ 8 h (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.15–1.71). In Model 2, adjusted for all covariates, these associations remained significant for < 6 h (OR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.13–1.79) and ≥ 8 h (OR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.09–1.64). In subgroup analyses, among premenopausal women, sleeping ≥ 8 h was associated with higher odds of dyslipidemia compared with the reference group (7-<8 h) (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.02–1.46) and hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia (OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.06–1.57). Among postmenopausal women, both short (< 6 h; OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.02–1.80) and long sleep duration (≥ 8 h; OR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.05–1.77) were associated with higher odds of hypertriglyceridemia. No statistically significant associations were observed for hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia. Sleep duration showed a U-shaped association with hypertriglyceridemia in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.