What is the association between sleep duration and the risk of all-cause mortality in adults?
Nasal-Breathing Sleep Tape, a systematic review and meta-analysis (Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 2018, PMID 30058510) — no significant difference was found between the <7 hours group and the 7-9 hours reference group (RD 0.00, 95% CI 0.00-0.01). No significant difference was found between the 9 hours) and higher all-cause mortality.
Source: Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 2018, PMID 30058510 ↗ · Research map · How Magellan grades evidence · evidence confidence: high
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · 2018 · PMID 30058510 · DOI 10.1017/S2045796018000379
Sleeping more than 9 hours per night is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, but this might be due to underlying health issues.
The question
What is the association between sleep duration and the risk of all-cause mortality in adults?
What they tested
The study aimed to determine the association between sleep duration and all-cause mortality, with planned comparisons of sleep durations less than 7 hours and greater than 9 hours against a reference of 7-9 hours.
How they did it
A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies were conducted using MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, and LILACS databases, along with other databases and unpublished literature. The risk of bias was assessed using a modified Cochrane Collaboration's tool. A random effects analysis was performed, with all-cause mortality as the primary outcome and risk difference (RD) with 95% confidence intervals as the effect measure. Comparisons were made between <7 hours of sleep versus 7-9 hours, and >9 hours of sleep versus 7-9 hours.
What they found
Thirty-nine studies were included in the qualitative analysis. For quantitative analysis, 19 studies compared <7 hours of sleep to 7-9 hours, and 18 studies compared >9 hours to 7-9 hours. Most studies showed a low risk of bias. The overall risk difference for all-cause mortality was 0.09 (95% CI 0.07-0.11) when comparing the >9 hours group to the 7-9 hours reference, favoring the reference group. No significant difference was found between the <7 hours group and the 7-9 hours reference group (RD 0.00, 95% CI 0.00-0.01).
| >9 hours vs. 7-9 hours | 0.09 | |
|---|---|---|
| <7 hours vs. 7-9 hours | 0 |
The risk difference (RD) for all-cause mortality when comparing sleep durations to a 7-9 hour reference. A positive RD indicates higher mortality in the compared group.
What it means
There is a probable association between long sleep duration (>9 hours) and higher all-cause mortality. However, no significant association was found for short sleep duration (<7 hours) compared to the 7-9 hour reference.
Limitations
The observed association between long sleep duration and higher mortality might reflect underlying systemic or neurological diseases that cause sleep fragmentation, deterioration in quality, and micro-awakenings, rather than long sleep duration itself being a direct cause.
The paper at a glance
| Title | Sleep duration and risk of all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. |
|---|---|
| Journal | Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences |
| Year | 2018 |
| PMID | 30058510 ↗ |
| DOI | 10.1017/S2045796018000379 ↗ |
| Topic | Sleep, circadian rhythm & stress |
Read the source: PubMed record (authors, abstract, full citation) ↗ · Publisher via doi.org ↗
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Cite this page
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Magellan Longevity. (2026). What is the association between sleep duration and the risk of all-cause mortality in adults? [Plain-English summary of Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 2018, PMID 30058510, DOI 10.1017/S2045796018000379]. Magellan Longevity. https://magellanlongevity.com/study/sleep_mortality.html@misc{magellan_sleep_mortality,
title = {What is the association between sleep duration and the risk of all-cause mortality in adults?},
author = {{Magellan Longevity}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://magellanlongevity.com/study/sleep_mortality.html}},
note = {Plain-English summary of PubMed PMID 30058510; DOI 10.1017/S2045796018000379; Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 2018. Reviewed by Gabriel Radu, DO},
urldate = {2026-08-11}
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