Specific results for different sleep trajectories included:
A 29% increased risk of death from any cause for short-long, 19% for long-short and 27% for long-long.
A 22% increased risk of heart-related death for long-long, 32% for long-short, and 22% for short-long.
“Associations were stronger among White compared with Black adults and among adults with a household income $15,000 or greater compared with adults with household incomes less than $15,000,” researchers noted. “No differences were observed by sex.”
The study “highlights the importance of maintaining healthy sleep over time,” said an accompanying editorial written by Dayna Johnson, an associate professor of epidemiology with the Emory University School of Public Health.