Afternoon Napping and Cognition in Chinese Older Adults: Findings from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Baseline Assessment

Objectives To examine the cross‐sectional associations between self‐reported postlunch napping and structured cognitive assessments in Chinese older adults. Design Cross‐sectional cohort study. Setting China. Participants Individuals aged 65 and older from the baseline national wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) (N = 2,974). Measurements Interview‐based cognitive assessments of orientation and attention, episodic memory, visuospatial abilities, and a combined global cognition score incorporating these assessments. Other self‐reported or interview‐based assessments included postlunch napping duration, nighttime sleep duration, demographic characteristics, health habits, comorbidities, functional status and social activities. According to reported napping duration, older adults were categorized as non‐nappers (0 minutes), short nappers (90 minutes). Results Postlunch napping was reporting in 57.7% of participants for a mean of 63 minutes. Cognitive function was significantly associated with napping (P < .001). Between‐group comparisons showed that moderate nappers had better overall cognition than nonnappers (P < .001) or extended nappers (P = .01). Nonnappers also had significantly poorer cognition than short nappers (P = .03). In multiple regression analysis, moderate napping was significantly associated with better cognition than non‐ (P = .004), short (P = .04), and extended napping (P = .002), after controlling for demographic characteristics, body mass index, depression, instrumental activities of daily living, social activities, and nighttime sleep duration. Conclusion A cross‐sectional association was found between moderate postlunch napping and better cognition in Chinese older adults. The cross‐sectional design and self‐reported measures of sleep limited the findings. Longitudinal studies with objective napping measures are needed to further test this hypothesis.