People around the world are encouraged to take daytime naps or take short naps during work or daily routine, but a new study shows the opposite and can lead to decline in health as napping can affect different people in different ways.
In the study, published jama network Opened April 20, researchers found that morning naps, as well as longer and more frequent naps, were associated with higher all-cause mortality in adults with an average age of 81 years.
The study, led by investigators at Mass General Brigham and Rush University Medical Center, used data from more than 1,300 adults ages 56 and older over 19 years.
“While brief naps may immediately reduce fatigue and improve alertness,” the authors write, “excessive napping at the end of life has been linked to adverse health outcomes, including neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, and even greater morbidity.”
“The findings suggest that there is immense clinical value in tracking napping patterns to catch health conditions early,” the authors said, but added that this is correlation, not causation.
While previous findings relied on self-reported napping habits and omitted metrics such as when and how regular the naps were, the latest study is one of the first to show an association between objectively measured napping patterns — through wearable devices — and mortality, according to the authors.
“Excessive napping may indicate underlying disease, chronic conditions, sleep disturbances or circadian dysregulation,” said lead author Chenlu Gao, an investigator in the department of anesthesiology at Mass General Brigham.
“Now that we know there is a strong association between napping patterns and mortality, we can make a case for implementing wearable daytime napping assessments to predict health conditions and prevent further deterioration.”
After studying data collected by wearable devices worn by study participants, researchers found that those who took long and frequent naps suffered an increased mortality rate.
The study found that morning nappers may have “more underlying health problems” than afternoon nappers.
Additionally, day nappers may face a higher mortality risk due to systemic inflammation, which is commonly associated with many chronic conditions.
