Increasing sleep duration linked to premature death risk
Compared with stable sleep duration, an increase of at least 30% was linked to a higher premature-death rate, expressed as a hazard ratio of 1.78.
Our read
Populations- Studied:
- Cohort study of 13,621 rural Chinese adults, against adults with stable sleep duration
- What changed:
- Premature death was higher with sleep increases of at least 30% versus stable sleep (hazard ratio 1.78)
- The catch:
- Underlying illness may contribute to both longer sleep and premature death
- In the record:
- The 378th paper on sleep duration with results in people; 608 on record in all.
- Why it’s aging research:
- It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
The Rural Chinese Cohort Study included 13,621 adults aged at least 18 but younger than 70 at baseline in this observational analysis. Surveys took place in 2007–2008, 2013–2014 and 2018–2020.
During a median follow-up of 5.07 years, adults whose sleep increased by at least 30% had higher premature-death rates than those with stable sleep duration. Stable meant changes from −15% to 15%. Hazard ratios, which compare death rates during follow-up, were 1.78 for deaths from any cause and 2.20 for deaths from heart and blood vessel disease. Analyses of sleep patterns over time also suggested that shifts toward more than nine hours of sleep a day were linked to premature deaths from heart and blood vessel disease.
Why it matters
The authors suggested that maintaining a stable, healthy sleep duration might help reduce premature mortality, highlighting sleep as a potentially modifiable behavior relevant to lifespan.
Caveats
Underlying illness may have contributed to both longer sleep and premature death. The analysis excluded people aged 70 or older at baseline, so the findings do not cover that age group.
Where the evidence stands
Sleep duration
- 225 independent labs in 35 countries
- 72 findings against
- Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China and others
- 28 of 487 findings with company ties
The paper
Zhengzhou University
Journal of Epidemiology, Nov 7, 2026, Open access
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