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Sleep patterns and impaired cognitive function in adults aged ≥ 55 years: a longitudinal study in China
Wei Zhang1, DeQing Zeng1, Yuge Yan1
1School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
BMC Public Health
|June 3, 2026
Summary
Long-term sleep patterns significantly impact cognitive function in older adults. Progressively shorter sleep with infrequent napping is linked to increased cognitive decline and impairment risk.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Sleep Science
Background:
- Existing research on sleep and cognition often uses limited, single-time assessments.
- Longitudinal sleep patterns and their combined effects with napping on cognition remain underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify distinct long-term sleep patterns in older adults.
- To investigate the association between these sleep patterns and cognitive changes, including decline and impairment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Dynamic Time Warping-based K-medoids clustering on sleep data from 4,385 older adults.
- Employed linear mixed-effects models and Cox proportional hazards regression to analyze cognitive outcomes.
Main Results:
- Identified three sleep patterns: moderate-stable with increasing naps, long-stable with frequent naps, and progressively shorter sleep with infrequent naps.
- Both shorter sleep (Cluster 3) and long-stable sleep (Cluster 2) patterns were associated with greater cognitive decline compared to moderate-stable sleep.
- Progressively shorter sleep (Cluster 3) showed a modest association with increased risk of cognitive impairment.
Conclusions:
- Distinct longitudinal sleep-nap patterns have differential associations with cognitive outcomes in older adults.
- A pattern of shortening sleep duration over time with limited napping may increase the risk of cognitive impairment.
- Monitoring long-term sleep behavior is crucial for understanding cognitive trajectories in aging populations.
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