Joint Associations of Device-Measured Sleep Duration and Efficiency With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study of 90 398 UK Biobank Participants

Abstract

Background: Both sleep duration and efficiency are essential for health outcomes. However, few studies have considered the effects of both sleep duration and efficiency on predicting the risks of mortality. This study investigated the independent and joint associations of accelerometer-measured sleep duration and efficiency with all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Methods: The UK Biobank is a cohort study of over 500 000 individuals recruited between 2006 and 2010. This study included participants wearing wrist accelerometers for 7 consecutive days between February 2013 and December 2015. Mortality was ascertained by the national death registries.

Results: Of the 90 398 participants (age, 62.4 [7.8] years, 43.5% male) who were included, 2 685 deaths were reported within a median follow-up duration of 6.4 years. Both accelerometer-measured short (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11-1.45) and long sleep duration (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.16; 95% CI: 1.06-1.28) were positively associated with the risks of all-cause mortality. Lower sleep efficiency was associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Significant interaction existed between accelerometer-measured sleep duration and efficiency for the risk of all-cause mortality (Pinteraction = .001), participants with long sleep duration and lower sleep efficiency had a double mortality risk compared with those with higher sleep efficiency and normal sleep duration (adjusted hazard ratios = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.44-3.09).

Conclusions: Accelerometer-measured short/long sleep duration and lower sleep efficiency were associated with increased risks of mortality. Sleep efficiency modified the effects of long sleep duration on survival.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Mortality; Sleep duration; Sleep efficiency; UK Biobank.