Sleep deprivation has known associations with risk of autoimmune diseases, but researchers decided to specifically evaluate the relationship between sleep and SLE.

The study population consisted of 186,072 women with 187 incident SLE cases during a combined 4,246,094 person-years. Women self-reported the total hours of sleep they achieved in a 24-hour period. The cumulative average of sleep duration was identified by the sum of sleep duration for an individual, divided by the number of assessments they participated in.

Women who chronically slept 5 hours or less per night were associated with increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus compared with those who slept 7-8 hours or more, even after a 4 year intermission of the analysis and adjustments were made for lifestyle and confounding factors.

Chronic low sleep duration was associated with higher SLE risk, with stronger effects among those with bodily pain and depression, highlighting the potential role of adequate sleep in disease prevention.

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