Insufficient sleep may decrease life expectancy

A good night's sleep is more than a luxury: New research from Oregon Health & Science University suggests that insufficient sleep may shorten your life.

The study published today in the journal SLEEP Advances.

Researchers tapped a vast, nationwide database looking for survey trends associated with average life expectancy county by county. They compared county-level data about average life expectancy with comprehensive survey data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2019 and 2025.

As a behavioral driver for life expectancy, sleep stood out more than diet, more than exercise, more than loneliness - indeed, more than any other factor except smoking.

I didn't expect it to be so strongly correlated to life expectancy. We've always thought sleep is important, but this research really drives that point home: People really should strive to get seven to nine hours of sleep if at all possible."

Andrew McHill, Ph.D., senior author, associate professor in the OHSU School of Nursing, the OHSU School of Medicine and OHSU's Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences

The research was conducted primarily by graduate students in the Sleep, Chronobiology and Health Laboratory of the OHSU School of Nursing.

Scientists have broadly understood the importance of sufficient sleep for a variety of positive health outcomes. However, McHill and co-authors said they were surprised by the strength of the connection to life expectancy. The effect of insufficient sleep swamped the impact of diet and exercise as a predictor of life expectancy.

"It's intuitive and makes a lot of sense, but it was still striking to see it materialize so strongly in all of these models," McHill said. "I'm a sleep physiologist who understands the health benefits of sleep, but the strength of the association between sleep sufficiency and life expectancy was remarkable to me."

Although previous research has shown broadly that lack of adequate sleep leads to higher mortality risk, the new research is the first to reveal year-to-year correlations between sleep and life expectancy for every U.S. state. For the purpose of modeling, the CDC defined sufficient sleep as at least seven hours a night, which is recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

Researchers found clear correlations in each year and in most U.S. states between sleep and life expectancy.

The statistical analysis did not delve into reasons why inadequate sleep appears to shorten life expectancy, but McHill noted that sleep influences cardiovascular health, the immune system and brain function.

"This research shows that we need to prioritize sleep at least as much as we do to what we eat or how we exercise," he said. "Sometimes, we think of sleep as something we can set aside and maybe put off until later or on the weekend.

"Getting a good night's sleep will improve how you feel but also how long you live."

In addition to McHill, co-authors include lead author Kathryn E. McAuliffe, B.S., Madeline R. Wary, B.S., Gemma V. Pleas, B.A., Kiziah E.S. Pugmire, B.S., Courtney Lysiak, B.A., Nathan F. Dieckmann, Ph.D., and Brooke M. Shafer, Ph.D.