Bedtime from 10-11 p.m. is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease, according to a study published Nov. 8 in European Heart Journal - Digital Health.
Researchers used data from the U.K. Biobank, which contains information on more than 500,000 individuals aged 37-73, and accelerometer data from 88 ,026 participants spanning seven days. The follow-up period was an average of 5.7 years.
Noted limitations to the study included abnormal activity during sleep influencing the performance of accelerometers and a seven-day measurement period not reflecting habitual sleeping patterns.
"Although the findings of this article do not show causality, they mandate further research into sleep timing as an independent cardiac risk factor, particularly for women," authors wrote.
Key findings:
- During the follow up, 3,172 of the volunteers experienced cardiovascular events.
- Cardiovascular events were highest among participants with bedtimes of midnight or later and lowest among those who fell asleep from 10 to 10:59 p.m
- Women who fell asleep later had a higher risk for cardiovascular events.
- Men had greater risk for cardiovascular events when they fell asleep before 10 p.m.