Sleep

The Increasing Trends of Short and Long Sleep Duration among Chinese Adults from 2010 to 2018: A Repeated Nationally Representative Cross-sectional Survey.

Chen Y, Wang L, et al. • Biomedical and environmental sciences : BES • 2026

PubMed 41582545 DOI 10.3967/bes2025.093

TL;DR

The prevalence of both short and long sleep durations significantly increased among Chinese adults from 2010 to 2018, highlighting the urgency of health initiatives to promote optimal sleep duration in China.

Key Findings

Results

The overall mean sleep duration among Chinese adults in 2018 was 7.58 hours per day, with no significant trend from 2010.

Mean sleep duration in 2018 was 7.58 hours (SD, 1.45) per day
No statistically significant change in mean sleep duration was observed across the study period from 2010 to 2018
Data came from four survey waves: 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2018

Results

Short sleep duration (≤6 hours) significantly increased among Chinese adults from 2010 to 2018.

Short sleep prevalence rose from 15.3% (95% CI: 14.1%–16.5%) in 2010 to 18.5% (95% CI: 17.7%–19.3%) in 2018
The trend was statistically significant (P < 0.001)
Short sleep was defined as ≤6 hours per day
Total sample included 645,420 adult participants across four survey waves

Results

Long sleep duration (>9 hours) significantly increased among Chinese adults from 2010 to 2018.

Long sleep prevalence rose from 7.2% (95% CI: 6.3%–8.1%) in 2010 to 9.0% (95% CI: 8.2%–9.9%) in 2018
The trend was statistically significant (P < 0.001)
Long sleep was defined as >9 hours per day

Methods

The study used a series of repeated nationally representative cross-sectional surveys to assess temporal trends in sleep duration among Chinese adults.

Data were drawn from the China Chronic Disease and Risk Factors Surveillance conducted in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2018
Sample sizes per wave: 97,741 (2010), 175,749 (2013), 187,777 (2015), and 184,153 (2018), totaling 645,420 participants
Linear and logistic regression models were used to assess trends in sleep duration
Weighted prevalence estimates with 95% confidence intervals were reported

What This Means

This research tracked how long Chinese adults sleep over nearly a decade, using data from over 645,000 people surveyed in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2018. While the average nightly sleep time stayed relatively stable at around 7.58 hours in 2018, the proportion of people sleeping either too little (6 hours or less) or too much (more than 9 hours) both increased significantly. Short sleep rose from about 15% to nearly 19% of the population, while long sleep increased from about 7% to 9%. This pattern — where the average stays the same but the extremes grow — suggests that the distribution of sleep in China is becoming more polarized, with more people sleeping at unhealthy levels on both ends of the spectrum. Both short and long sleep durations have been associated with various health risks in prior research, making this a public health concern even when average sleep appears normal. This research suggests that simply tracking average sleep time may mask important changes happening in a population's sleep health. The findings point to a need for public health efforts in China specifically aimed at helping people achieve recommended sleep durations, addressing both those who sleep too little (possibly due to work demands, screen time, or stress) and those who sleep too much (which may reflect underlying health conditions or sedentary behavior).

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Citation

Chen Y, Wang L, Zhang M, Hu S, Shao Y, Zhang X, et al.. (2026). The Increasing Trends of Short and Long Sleep Duration among Chinese Adults from 2010 to 2018: A Repeated Nationally Representative Cross-sectional Survey.. Biomedical and environmental sciences : BES. https://doi.org/10.3967/bes2025.093

Key Findings

What This Means

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