“There is a sign that I am aging well”… They say aging changes depending on ‘this’, what does it mean?

A new study has shown that the starting point for healthy aging is maintaining a stable sleep schedule.

According to information published in BMC Public Health by researchers at Yunzhou Medical University in China, rapid aging is emerging as a major health problem in China, where the population over 60 is expected to reach 28% by 2040. Average life expectancy is increasing, reaching 77.6 years in 2019, but healthy life expectancy is 68.4 years, a difference of nearly 9 years.

To solve this problem, researchers wanted to find commonalities among people who experience successful aging. Reflecting a holistic approach to the health and well-being of older adults, the researchers determined that successful aging consists of the following five key elements:

△The absence of major chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease, heart disease, and stroke
△A ‘state without physical disability’ that allows you to independently perform daily activities such as dressing, bathing, and eating.
△‘High cognitive ability’ assessed through cognitive tests through drawing and word recall tasks.
△‘State without serious symptoms of depression’ assessed by depression score
△An ‘active life’ evidenced by participation in social activities such as meeting friends, playing games such as mahjong or chess, and attending community events.

Previous research has shown that insufficient or excessive sleep can lead to adverse health outcomes. However, the researchers pointed out that there was no study that revealed the effect of changes in sleep time over time on successful aging.

The researchers investigated the sleep status of 3,306 participants who had no major chronic diseases as of 2011 and were over 60 years old by 2020. Sleep duration was assessed by adding the nighttime sleep time and daytime nap time to total daily sleep time in 2011, 2013, and 2015.

The researchers found that the participants had one of five sleep persistence trajectories over a nine-year period. The group maintaining a stable normal sleep time (26.1% of participants), the group maintaining a stable long sleep time (26.7%), the group maintaining a stable short sleep time (26.2%), and the group increasing sleep time. (13.7%), and the group with reduced sleep time (7.3%).

The researchers examined the association between these sleep patterns and successful aging using a logistic regression model adjusted for factors such as age, gender, marital status, education level, household expenditures, lifestyle behaviors and body type. The researchers used a latent class mixture model (an algorithm that allows comparisons between different groups) and used people with normal-stable sleep patterns as the reference group.

Participants in the group that increased sleep time or the group that maintained a stable short sleep time had a significantly lower probability of successful aging, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.64 and 0.48, respectively. The group with reduced sleep time also showed a decrease in the probability of successful aging (adjusted odds ratio 0.64), although it did not reach a statistically significant level. The group that maintained a stable long sleep time did not differ significantly from the normal-stable group.

Overall, by 2020, only 13.8% of study subjects met the definition of successful aging. Over time, short or long sleep periods can interfere with physiological and psychological well-being, preventing successful aging. The pattern found in this study is consistent with previous studies showing that irregular sleep habits have negative effects on health, the researchers noted.

Maintaining a stable and adequate sleep schedule may be an often overlooked aspect of promoting healthy aging in China’s elderly population. The findings provide a foundation for public health strategies focused on maintaining stable and adequate sleep duration as a component for successful aging, the researchers said.

You can check the paper at the following link (