Sleep might be more complicated than just “more is better”. A 2023 study shows that sleeping less than 5 hours or more than 9 daily is linked to higher rates of multimorbidity. Surprisingly, people using sleep medications may face an even greater risk. Understanding these patterns can help you make smarter choices for both rest and long-term health.
WORDS LIM TECK CHOON
A team of investigators examined data from the Prospective Study about Mental and Physical Health (PAMPA), which an online-based cohort study conducted in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
- This data was obtained from 2,936 participants.
- 79,1% of them were women, 54.2% between 18 and 39 years old, and 88.9% are white.
FIRST, AN EXPLANATION ABOUT MULTIMORBIDITIES
- The word ‘multimorbidity’ will show up quite a bit in this article.
- The word describes someone that is living with 2 or more long-term health conditions. For example, that person may have high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol levels.
NOW, LET’S SEE WHAT THE INVESTIGATORS FOUND
- Participants that slept for only 5 hours or fewer a day tend to also have higher prevalence of multimorbidity.
- Interestingly, those that sleep for 9 or more hours a day also show higher prevalence of multimorbidity.
- Those that are on sleep medications also have higher prevalence of multimorbidity, much higher than seen among the above 2 groups of people.
SOME CAVEATS OF NOTE
The investigators emphasizes that their analysis has some limitations.
- Their findings came from data analysis, which means that more research is needed to determine the exact nature of the link connecting sleep, the use of sleep medications, and multimorbidity.
- Furthermore, that data was self-reported by the participants, so the accuracy of such data can be affected by human bias and error.
- Also, the analysis did not consider sleep quality, only sleep duration.
DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE FINDINGS ARE NOT USEFUL?
The investigators hope that their findings will encourage more research into this matter.
Additionally, they hope that their findings will spur healthcare practitioners to work closer with their patients that have multimorbidity to improve these patients’ sleep hygiene.
3 STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE SLEEP QUALITY
- “Strategies such as exercises, meditation, and healthy eating can improve sleep quality,” the investigators noted.
- In a previous meta-analysis with 18 trials and more than 1,600 participants, a different of investigators found evidence that mindfulness meditation may enhance sleep quality.
- Another meta-analysis, involving 557 participants, showed that exercise improved sleep quality without causing any notable negative effect.
| This article is part of our series on issues affecting our sleep as well as tips on how to get better quality sleep. |
Reference: Delpino, F. M., Caputo, E. L., Arcêncio, R. A., Cassuriaga, J., Huckembeck, C. M., Nunes, B. P., Rombaldi, A. J., Reichert, F. F., da Silva, M. C., & Feter, N. (2023). Association of sleep duration and use of sleeping medication with multimorbidity in adults: Results from the PAMPA (Brazil) Cohort Study. Sleep Science, 16(1), 68–74. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1767757
