Long Naps and Less Nighttime Sleep Signal High AF Risk

TOPLINE:

Individuals who took extended daytime naps or had inadequate nighttime sleep faced a significantly increased risk for incident atrial fibrillation (AF), with a threefold increased risk among those with both factors.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a prospective cohort study to assess whether daytime napping and nighttime sleep duration were associated with the incidence of AF.
• They included 20,827 Spanish university graduates (mean age, 36.0-39.7 years; 57.4%-65.2% women) who were free from AF and collected information on their sleep duration and napping habits using questionnaires.
• Daytime napping was categorized as no nap, a short nap (< 30 min/d), or a long nap (≥ 30 min/d). Nighttime sleep was classified as adequate (6-8 h/d) or inadequate (< 6 or > 8 h/d).
• The incidence of AF was assessed over a median follow-up of 15.1 years.

TAKEAWAY:

• A total of 163 incident cases of AF were confirmed during the follow-up period.
• Participants who took long naps had a 62% higher risk for incident AF (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.62; 95% CI, 1.10-2.39) than those who took short naps; however, no such association was observed in participants who did not nap.
• Inadequate nighttime sleep was associated with a substantially elevated risk for AF compared with adequate nighttime sleep (aHR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.10-3.23).
• Participants who both took long naps and had inadequate nighttime sleep had a threefold higher risk for AF (aHR, 3.19; 95% CI, 1.30-7.79) than those who took no or short naps and had adequate nighttime sleep.

IN PRACTICE:

“[The study] findings might have important clinical and public health implications, as sleep patterns could be a modifiable risk factor for AF,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Jesús Díaz-Gutiérrez, of the University Hospital Juan Ramon Jiménez in Huelva, Spain. It was published online on July 24, 2025, in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

LIMITATIONS:

The sleep habits were self-reported by participants and assessed only at baseline, without accounting for changes over time. The study population was restricted to university graduates, limiting generalizability.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received funding from several sources, including the Spanish Government-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the European Regional Development Fund, and the Navarra Regional Government. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.