How Dangerous Is Irregular Sleep for Heart Failure Survivors? Study Finds Out - Video

A new study published in JACC: Advances by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) reveals that inconsistent sleep patterns significantly increase the risk of adverse events in patients recovering from heart failure. The study suggests that people with even moderately irregular sleep schedules are more than twice as likely to experience another clinical setback—such as hospitalization, an emergency room visit, or death—within six months of hospital discharge.

The study reinforces the critical link between sleep consistency and cardiovascular health.

The research involved 32 patients who had recently been hospitalized for acutely decompensated heart failure at OHSU Hospital and Hillsboro Medical Center between September 2022 and October 2023. After discharge, participants were asked to maintain sleep diaries for one week, recording when they went to bed, woke up, and napped during the day. Based on this data, participants were categorized as either regular or moderately irregular sleepers.

Over the six-month follow-up period, 21 of the 32 patients experienced a clinical event. Among them, 13 were identified as irregular sleepers, compared to just 8 who had consistent sleep schedules. Even after adjusting for factors like underlying sleep disorders and other health conditions, irregular sleepers still faced more than double the risk of experiencing another event.

“When we’re asleep and in a resting state, our blood pressure and heart rate decrease compared with daytime levels,” said Brooke Shafer, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the Sleep, Chronobiology and Health Laboratory at the OHSU School of Nursing. “But variability in sleep timing may disrupt mechanisms involved in the regulation of the cardiovascular system.” Irregular sleep may contribute to adverse outcomes, especially for people already affected by heart failure.”

The researchers concluded that improving sleep regularity could be a simple, low-cost strategy to reduce risks in heart failure patients. The next step, they say, is to validate these findings in a larger group.

Reference: Brooke M. Shafer, Shirin O. Hiatt, Sophia A. Kogan, Christopher S. Lee, Nathan F. Dieckmann, Christopher V. Chien, Quin E. Denfeld, Andrew W. McHill, Effect of Posthospitalization Sleep Regularity on Clinical Events in Adults With Heart Failure, JACC: Advances, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.102109.