Effects of short sleep and sleep deprivation on thyroid hormones and indices: a Bayesian multilevel analysis from the ELSA-Brasil cohort.

Authors

João Ferreira Silva Junior, Aline Araújo Nobre, Aline Silva-Costa, Isabela Martins Benseñor, Rosane Harter Griep, Maria de Jesus Mendes da Fonseca

Published in

Cadernos de saude publica. Volume 42. Pages e00203525. Epub Aug 10, 2026.

Abstract

Short sleep duration and sleep deprivation are increasingly frequent in the population and associated with negative health outcomes. Few longitudinal studies have assessed the influence of sleep parameters on thyroid hormones and related indices. This study aimed to analyze the longitudinal association between short sleep duration and sleep deprivation and thyroid hormones and indices, stratified by sex. This prospective cohort analysis included 9,564 participants (4,649 men and 4,915 women) from the first (2012-2014) and second (2016-2018) follow-up waves of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). Individuals using medications for thyroid dysfunction or drugs known to alter thyroid hormone levels were excluded. Data on short sleep duration, sleep deprivation, sociodemographic characteristics, and health-related behaviors were obtained from multidimensional questionnaires. Thyroid hormones were titrated in centrifuged serum samples collected after a 12-hour overnight fast using a third-generation immunoenzymatic assay. Crude and adjusted Bayesian multilevel models stratified by sex were used to estimate coefficients and 95% credibility intervals (95%CrI). In models adjusted for age, race/skin color, educational attainment, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, level of physical activity, coffee consumption, and menopause (for women), both men and women with short sleep duration showed lower TSH values compared to those with normal sleep duration. Only women with short sleep duration showed lower TSHI and the values (coefficient.: -0.6019; 95%CrI: -0.9072; -0.2894) compared to women with normal sleep duration. Our findings emphasize the importance of adequate sleep duration and of avoiding sleep deprivation whenever possible to ensure homeostatic maintenance of thyroid hormones.

PMID:
42585507
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.