Sleep duration and long-term mortality after stroke: A nationwide analysis

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Health
• Sleep Medicine
• Stroke Outcomes

Background:

• Sleep duration is a critical component of cardiovascular health, as defined by the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8.
• Research on the impact of sleep duration on stroke survivors' outcomes is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between nightly sleep duration and mortality risk in a nationally representative sample of U.S. stroke survivors.

Main Methods:

• Utilized cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2005-2018) and the National Death Index (2019).
• Analyzed data from 1,488 stroke survivors aged 18 and older.
• Employed multivariable Cox regression models to assess relationships between sleep duration (short: <7 hrs, normal: 7-8 hrs, long: >8 hrs) and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, adjusting for demographic and clinical factors.

Main Results:

• Long sleep duration (>8 hours) was significantly associated with increased all-cause mortality in stroke survivors, even after adjusting for covariates (HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.02-1.65).
• Short sleep duration (<7 hours) was not significantly associated with all-cause or cardiovascular mortality after adjustment.
• No significant association was found between long sleep duration and cardiovascular mortality.

Conclusions:

• Long sleep duration is an independent risk factor for higher all-cause mortality following a stroke.
• Findings suggest that sleep duration may be an important, modifiable factor in post-stroke care.