Napping As an Adult May Increase Your Mortality Risk—If You Sleep for This Long
Six percent of study participants died over an 11-year follow-up period.
If your naps tend to block out the entire afternoon, it might be time to readjust your nighttime sleep schedule. The Sleep Foundation says the “ideal nap length, between 20 and 30 minutes, should help you wake up feeling refreshed without falling into deep sleep.” As an adult, napping for longer than 30 minutes could compromise your overall health, according to science.
A new paper published in the journal Sleep states that certain daytime napping behaviors are correlated with an increased mortality risk among middle- to older-aged adults. Researchers examined the napping patterns of 86,565 participants, between the ages of 43 and 79 years old, all of whom didn’t have a shift work history—meaning, they reported to work during traditional daytime office hours.
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For the purpose of this study, actigraphic wrist watches were used to track when participants were asleep or awake, and napping was defined as “sleep between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.” The tracking period lasted seven days. Variables such as demographics, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, and nighttime sleep duration were also taken into consideration.
Researchers referenced national registries for mortality data, and discovered that six percent of participants died over an 11-year follow-up period. This totaled 5,189 people.
“In evaluating the results of the sleep study, we were surprised by how common napping was among middle-to-older aged adults, how much their daytime sleep patterns varied across days, and when during the day they are sleeping,” lead author Chenlu Gao, a postdoctoral research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said in a news release.
Participants clocked a median nap duration of 40 minutes per day. According to the findings, “longer naps, greater variability in daytime nap duration, and higher percentages of naps around noon and in the early afternoon are associated with greater mortality risks.” Here’s how those data points broke down:
- 34 percent of naps occurred between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- 10 percent of naps occurred between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
- 14 percent of naps occurred between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
- 19 percent of naps occurred between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
- 22 percent of naps occurred between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“People who slept longer during the day, had irregular daytime sleep patterns, or slept more around midday and early afternoon were at greater risk, even after accounting for health and lifestyle factors,” noted Gao.
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The authors said that actigraphy-based nap assessments can unearth “novel opportunities” for early mortality risk identification and inspire intervention treatments.
“These findings highlight the potential importance of considering napping behaviors in risk stratification of mortality in middle-to-older aged adults,” they wrote.
A 2024 survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found that nearly half of Americans take afternoon naps “to improve alertness when they feel sleepy in the daytime.” Cat naps aren’t harmful in moderation; however, they can become a problem if you come to rely on them daily.
“We recommend that adults should get seven or more hours of sleep on a regular basis to ensure they wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day ahead,” said Indira Gurubhagavatula, MD, sleep doctor and AASM spokesperson. “If you are experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness, or feelings of irritability, grogginess or even difficulties with memory, it may be time to speak with your health care professional about your sleep.”
