Researchers analyzed sleep quality as well as overall sleep patterns.

Healthy sleep patterns are rising in the morning, sleeping 7-8 hours a day and having no insomnia, snoring or excessive daytime sleepiness. Heart failure affects more than 26 million people, and emerging evidence indicates sleep problems may play a role in its development.

“The healthy sleep score we created was based on the scoring of these five sleep behaviors,” said corresponding author Dr. Lu Qi, epidemiology professor and director of the Obesity Research Center at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. “Our findings highlight the importance of improving overall sleep patterns to help prevent heart failure.”