Research
Mixed
Habitual sleep duration of less than 7 hours per night is associated with a 12% increased risk of all-cause mortality compared to the reference range of 7-8 hours.
Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Sleeping consistently less than 7 hours is associated with a 12% higher risk of death. While individual needs vary, this is a significant public health risk factor that should be prioritized alongside diet and exercise.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
In the pooled analysis, short duration of sleep (25 cohorts from 15 studies, n = 1,381,324 with 112,163 deaths) was associated with greater risk of death (RR: 1.12; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.18, P < 0.01)... Pooled analyses indicate that short sleepers (commonly < 7 h per night, often < 5 h per night) have a 12% greater risk... of dying than those sleeping 7 to 8 h per night.
Why this rating
Systematic review and meta-analysis of 16 prospective studies with over 1.3 million participants.
Source
Sleep Duration and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies
Francesco P. Cappuccio et al. · SLEEP · 2010
DOI 10.1093/sleep/33.5.585
Meta-analysis · 16 studiesCited 2,187×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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