DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2023 annual meeting emphasizes that in addition to getting sufficient sleep each night, adults should maintain a consistent sleep schedule with a regular bedtime and wake time.
Results show that adults with a regular sleep schedule and sufficient sleep duration had a 39% lower mortality risk than adults with an irregular sleep schedule and insufficient sleep duration. Analyses controlled for potential confounders such as socio-demographics, lifestyle, health status, and measures of major sleep disorders.
“Our study found that objectively regular sleepers tended to outlive objectively irregular sleepers regardless of major sleep disorder,” said lead author Joon Chung, who has a doctorate in sociology and is a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School and in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Results suggest benefits of expanding the public conversation on getting ‘a good night’s sleep’ and broadening this goal to getting many good nights of sleep, in a row, on weekdays and weekends.”
Healthy sleep requires adequate duration, appropriate timing, good quality, regularity, and the absence of sleep disturbances or disorders. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recommend that adults should sleep 7 or more hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
The researchers analyzed data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Sleep Study, which involved 1,759 participants who were followed for a median of seven years. Sleep regularity and duration were classified using seven days of data gathered by wrist actigraphy. There were 176 deaths during the study period.
Chung emphasized that maintaining a regular bedtime and wake time is essential for healthy sleep.
“If sleep were an eight-hour pill, it would be beneficial to take the full dose at regular times, consistently,” he said.
This study was supported by funding from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented Wednesday, June 7, during SLEEP 2023 in Indianapolis. SLEEP is the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.
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Note: This press release contains the most current data, which has been updated since the publication of the research abstract.
Abstract Title: Objectively regular sleep of optimal duration and mortality: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
Abstract ID: 0724
Oral Presentation Date: Wednesday, June 7, 12 p.m. to 12:15 p.m., Indiana Convention Center, 500 Ballroom
Presenter: Joon Chung, Ph.D.
For a copy of the abstract or to arrange an interview with the study author or a sleep expert, please send an email to media@aasm.org.
About the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC
The APSS is a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The APSS organizes the SLEEP annual meeting each June.
About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the AASM advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM has a combined membership of 12,000 accredited sleep centers and individuals, including physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who care for patients with sleep disorders. As the leader in the sleep field, the AASM sets standards and promotes excellence in sleep medicine health care, education and research (aasm.org).
About the Sleep Research Society
The SRS is a professional membership society that advances sleep and circadian science. The SRS provides forums for the exchange of information, establishes and maintains standards of reporting and classifies data in the field of sleep research, and collaborates with other organizations to foster scientific investigation on sleep and its disorders. The SRS also publishes the peer-reviewed, scientific journals Sleep and Sleep Advances (sleepresearchsociety.org).