Key points from article :
Researchers at Oxford Population Health find little evidence of association between sleep duration and dementia risk.
Study based on data from the UK Million Women Study, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association
Disturbed sleep is common in dementia patients, but its role as a risk factor remains unclear
Study analyzed data from 830,716 women without dementia, aged 60 on average, and followed their medical records
67% reported normal sleep duration (7-8 hours), 23% reported short sleep duration (6 hours or less), 10% reported long sleep duration (9+ hours)
15,146 women developed dementia 15 or more years after initial reporting on sleep duration
Slightly higher dementia risk associated with short sleep duration (1.08 [1.04 – 1.12]) compared to normal sleep duration
Long sleep duration not associated with increased dementia risk (1.04 [0.99 – 1.09])
No differences in associations across dementia types (Alzheimer's, vascular, unspecified) for either short or long sleep duration
