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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Noninvasive, High-throughput Determination of Sleep Duration in Rodents
Published on: April 18, 2018
Nonlinear associations between sleep duration and dementia: Evidence from the CHARLS and Mendelian randomization
Xiaoqing Tao1, Shan Wang2, Li He1
1Department of Neurology, Beijing Anzhen Nanchong Hospital of Capital Medical University & Nanchong Central Hospital, Nanchong, Sichuan, China.
Abstract:
Dementia poses a substantial global health burden, necessitating public health focus on modifiable risk factors. While sleep duration has been linked to dementia risk, studies specifically addressing middle-aged and older Chinese adults remain limited. Using cross-sectional (n = 12,187) and longitudinal (n = 9030, 4-year follow-up) data from CHARLS, along with two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR), we examined associations between sleep duration and dementia, and causality between insomnia and dementia. We observed the strongest dementia risk among individuals reporting extreme sleep durations (<5 h or >10 h), both cross-sectional (OR=2.99, 95% CI: 2.47-3.62, P < 0.001) and longitudinally (HR=1.55, 95% CI: 1.25-1.91, P < 0.001). Restricted cubic spline analyses demonstrated a significant U-shaped dose-response association (P for nonlinearity <0.001). MR findings provided suggestive evidence for a potential causal effect of insomnia on dementia risk (OR=1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.13, P = 0.029). Sensitivity analyses confirmed robustness. Optimizing sleep duration and managing insomnia may help reduce dementia risk in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.
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