Study of frequent links Diurnal nap in higher mortality in the elderly

A new study connecting the diurnal nap to the increase in mortality rates in the elderly can have a certain repetition of noon.

The study, presented last month at Sleep 2025, the 39th annual meeting of professional companies associated with Seattle, Washington, revealed that frequent, longer and irregular day naps – in particular at the beginning of the afternoon – were linked to a higher risk of death over a period of eight years.

“Our study fills a gap in knowledge,” Fox News Digital, a main Chenu Gao, postdoctoral researcher at the General Hospital of Massachusetts in Boston, told Fox News.

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Research shows “not only if someone takes a nap, but how long, how much and when it is built during the day can be significant indicators of the future risk for health,” he said.

The study included 86,565 participants with an average of 63 years – who all worked on regular diurnal hours – which were monitored by activigraphy, which detects movement during sleep but not brain activity.

The study revealed that frequent, longer and irregular day naps were linked to a higher risk of death over a period of eight years. (istock)

Scientists have defined diurnal nap as a sleep between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

After the initial study, the researchers kept an eye on the participants for eight years and discovered that 5,189 (6.0%) of them died during this period.

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Research has shown that taking naps – and nap between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. or between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. – was associated with a higher mortality rate.

The results have been adjusted for other potential factors influencing mortality, such as demography, weight, smoking, alcohol consumption and the duration of night sleep, the researchers said.

Research has shown that taking naps – and nap between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. or between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. – was associated with a higher mortality rate. (istock)

“Naps are not necessarily problematic unless they are used to compensate for chronically mediocre sleep at night,” Dr Chelsie Rohrscheib, neuroscientist and sleep specialist in Wesper in New York told Fox New York.

“It is necessary to obtain seven to nine hours of good quality sleep to maintain health and reduce the risk of developing dangerous medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes,” added Rohrscheib, who was not involved in the study.

“Naps are not necessarily problematic unless they are used to compensate for the chronically mediocre sleep at night.”

Study limitations

The study has not established proof that naps directly affect the risk of death.

“These are associations,” Gao told Fox News Digital. “We cannot conclude from this study if the nap causes poor health.”

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In another potential limitation, because the study relied on the detection of movements but not brain activity, “silent awakening” may have been poorly classified as sleep.

In addition, the definition of diurnal nap as sleep between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. could have wrongly included the real sleep of the participants, affecting the accuracy of what would count as a nap, the researchers said.

Researchers noted that an excessive nap could be a marker of other health problems such as chronic diseases, systemic inflammation or disturbances in circadian rhythms. (istock)

Excessive nap could also be a marker of other health problems, such as chronic diseases, systemic inflammation or disturbances in circadian rhythms, which can themselves increase the risk of mortality.

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“A person who needs daily naps to spend the day probably does not sleep enough during the night, or has an underlying health that causes diurnal drowsiness,” noted Rohrscheib.

Gao added: “We need more research to understand causal relationships before we can conclude that a certain type of nap scheme would benefit health.”

Because the study relied on movement detection, but not brain activity, “silent awakening” may have been poorly classified as sleep. (istock)

“However, we suggest that monitoring nap schemes could help us identify health problems early, so that we can implement interventions accordingly.”

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine encourages healthy adults to limit naps less than 20 to 30 minutes in the early afternoon.

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While a brief “nap” can improve vigilance and daytime performance, naps of 30 minutes or more can make a person feel groggy after waking up. This genius, or “sleep inertia” can delay the short -term advantages of a nap, according to experts.

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Overall, the results suggest that when it comes to lunch rehearsal, moderation is essential – and the nap diagrams could be a window on wider health problems that deserve to be discussed with a medical supplier.