Pilot study of the impact of weekend sleep restriction and recovery sleep on metabolic and cardiovascular risk indicators: Results from a randomized crossover clinical trial.

Insufficient sleep (<7h/night) affects approximately one-third of the adult population and is associated with cardiometabolic alterations. A common strategy to compensate for sleep debt accumulated during the workweek is extending sleep duration during the weekend, although its effects remain controversial. The aim of this study was to preliminarily evaluate the impact of 5 days of sleep restriction followed by 2 days of recovery sleep on sleep parameters and cardiometabolic biomarkers. A randomized crossover clinical trial was conducted in 10 healthy adults under two conditions: 1) adequate habitual sleep for 7 days (HS), and 2) 5 days of sleep restriction (-1h 30min/night) followed by 2 days of ad libitum recovery sleep (RS). Sleep duration was reduced by 102min during weekdays in the RS condition (P<.001), with no differences during the weekend. After the recovery period, sleep quality worsened in the RS condition, with increased wake after sleep onset and a higher number of awakenings. In addition, triglyceride levels and blood pressure were higher in RS compared with HS. These preliminary findings suggest that weekend recovery sleep does not fully compensate for the effects of partial sleep restriction.