Lifestyle factor
Sleep and life expectancy
Sleep duration has a U-shaped association with mortality, where both short and long sleep are linked to higher risk than around seven to eight hours.
What the research suggests
Population research associates habitual short sleep, and to a lesser extent very long sleep, with higher all-cause mortality. The relationship is partly explained by underlying health conditions, but sleep quality and duration appear to matter in their own right for cardiovascular and metabolic health.
What helps
- Aiming for roughly seven to eight hours
- Keeping a consistent sleep schedule
- Addressing conditions such as sleep apnoea
- Good sleep hygiene
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How does sleep affect life expectancy?
Population research associates habitual short sleep, and to a lesser extent very long sleep, with higher all-cause mortality. The relationship is partly explained by underlying health conditions, but sleep quality and duration appear to matter in their own right for cardiovascular and metabolic health.
What is the single most useful change?
Aiming for roughly seven to eight hours. Sustained changes started earlier tend to have the largest effect, though benefit is associated with change at any age.