Research

Hormonal

Shorter sleep duration (measured objectively via actigraphy) is associated with a lower secondary antibody response to the hepatitis B vaccine and a decreased likelihood of achieving clinical protection (anti-HBs IgG ≥ 10 mIU/ml).

If you are getting a vaccine, prioritize getting enough total hours of sleep in the days leading up to and following the shot. Objective sleep duration matters more for your immune response than how efficiently you sleep or how good you feel you slept. Aim for longer sleep duration (e.g., >7 hours) to maximize your antibody protection.

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Regression analyses revealed that shorter actigraphy-based sleep duration was associated with a lower secondary antibody response independent of age, sex, body mass index, and response to the initial immunization. Shorter sleep duration, measured by actigraphy and sleep diary, also predicted a decreased likelihood of being clinically protected from hepatitis B at the conclusion of the vaccination series.
Aric A. Prather et al. · SLEEP · 2012

Why this rating

Prospective observational study with objective sleep measures (actigraphy) and clinically relevant endpoints (antibody titers), controlling for major confounders, but lacking randomization.

Source

Sleep and Antibody Response to Hepatitis B Vaccination

Aric A. Prather et al. · SLEEP · 2012

DOI 10.5665/sleep.1990

cohort · n=125Cited 210×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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