Delta wave activity disruption during sleep may be a useful metric to identify those at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality.An international team of researchers assessed delta wave activity during sleep based on overnight polysomnograms in 4058 participants in the Sleep Heart Health Study and 2193 participants in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study Sleep study .
In multivariable Cox regression models, lower delta wave entropy during sleep was associated with a higher risk for coronary heart disease , cardiovascular disease , and cardiovascular mortality after adjusting for covariates. Low delta wave entropy could be implemented within a standard clinical sleep medicine software tool to quantify sleep disruption and identify patients at a high risk for cardiovascular disease. Disturbed delta wave activity may also represent a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease.