Better multidimensional sleep health was associated with lower odds of prevalent mild cognitive impairment among older adults, with each one-point increase in composite sleep health score associated with 30.8% lower odds of MCI.
Nearly half of the older adult participants had mild cognitive impairment, and the majority had unfavorable sleep health across multiple dimensions.
The non-MCI group had a significantly higher composite sleep health score than the MCI group.
Each one-point increase in the composite sleep health score was associated with significantly lower odds of prevalent MCI in the fully adjusted model.
Among individual sleep dimensions, sleep efficiency showed the most consistent association with MCI after full adjustment.
The study used a multidimensional sleep health framework (SATED) rather than focusing on single sleep characteristics.
The authors conclude that longitudinal studies are needed to confirm whether the observed associations are causal.
This research suggests that older adults who have better sleep health across multiple dimensions — including how satisfying, efficient, and well-timed their sleep is — are less likely to have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that sits between normal aging and dementia. The study followed 416 adults aged 60 and older living in nursing homes and communities in Wuhan, China, and found that nearly half (47%) had MCI, while more than 70% had poor sleep in at least two different aspects of sleep health. Those without MCI consistently had better overall sleep health scores than those with MCI. The study found that for each one-point improvement in a composite sleep health score, the odds of having MCI dropped by about 31%. Among specific sleep dimensions examined, sleep efficiency — roughly how much of time in bed is actually spent asleep — showed the strongest and most consistent link to lower MCI odds, cutting the likelihood of MCI roughly in half among those with favorable efficiency. These associations held even after accounting for other factors that might explain the relationship. Because this was a cross-sectional study (meaning it captured a snapshot in time rather than tracking people over time), it cannot prove that poor sleep causes MCI or that improving sleep would prevent it. The findings do highlight that looking at sleep as a multifaceted health behavior, rather than focusing on just one feature like duration, may be important for understanding cognitive health in older adults. The authors call for longer-term studies to determine whether these associations reflect a causal relationship.
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Upload Your LabsLi Y, Dong X, Hu H, Wang X. (2026). Multidimensional sleep health is associated with mild cognitive impairment in older adults: a cross-sectional study.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1911714