Naps longer than 1 hour may confer risk for CVD, mortality
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Adults who napped longer than 1 hour per day had elevated risk for CVD and mortality compared with those who did not nap at all, according to a meta-analysis presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
The trend was most pronounced in those who also slept for more than 6 hours per night and was more prevalent in women than in men.
“Daytime napping is common all over the world and is generally considered a healthy habit,” Zhe Pan, MD, from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China, said in a press release. “A common view is that napping improves performance and counteracts the negative consequences of ‘sleep debt.’ Our study challenges these widely held opinions.”
Pan and colleagues analyzed 313,651 participants (58% women; 38.9% reported taking naps) from 20 prospective cohort studies that evaluated the link between daytime napping and CVD and/or all-cause mortality.
In the overall cohort, the researchers reported no association between daytime napping and CVD (HR = 1.13; 95% CI, 0.99-1.28). However, Pan and colleagues found a relationship between daytime napping and CVD risk in women (HR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.09-1.58), in those older than 65 years (HR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.07-1.72) and in those who napped for more than 1 hour (HR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.05-1.63).
Daytime napping of any length conferred elevated risk for all-cause mortality in the overall cohort (HR = 1.19; 95% CI, 1.12-1.26), according to the researchers.
The effect size of the mortality risk from napping exceeded that of the overall cohort in women (HR = 1.22; 95% CI, 1.13-1.31), in those older than 65 years (HR = 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11-1.45) and in those who napped for more than 1 hour (HR = 1.3; 95% CI, 1.12-1.47).
The mortality risk was also elevated in participants who took a long nap and slept more than 6 hours at night (HR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24), but there was no significant mortality risk from daytime napping in people who slept less than 6 hours per night, according to the researchers.
In dose-response analyses, there was a J-curve relationship between nap time and CVD, dropping between 0 minutes and 25 minutes but then rising, and a linear relationship between nap time and all-cause mortality.
There was no relationship between short naps and CVD, so “the results suggest that shorter naps (especially those less than 30 to 45 minutes) might improve heart health in people who sleep insufficiently at night,” Pan said in the release.
The cause of the relationship between long naps and poor health outcomes is unknown, he said in the release, but previous research has suggested a link between long naps and inflammation.
Collapse
Pan Z, et al. Abstract 81398. Presented at: European Society of Cardiology Congress; Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2020 (virtual meeting).
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts