American Journal of Epidemiology ª The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Vol. 173, No. 3 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwq371 Advance Access publication: December 30, 2010

Original Contribution Sleep Disturbances and Cause-Specific Mortality: Results From the GAZEL Cohort Study

Naja Hulvej Rod*, Jussi Vahtera, Hugo Westerlund, Mika Kivimaki, Marie Zins, Marcel Goldberg, and Theis Lange * Correspondence to Naja Hulvej Rod, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Postbox 2099, 1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark (e-mail: [email protected]).

Initially submitted June 30, 2010; accepted for publication October 1, 2010.

Poor sleep is an increasing problem in modern society, but most previous studies on the association between sleep and mortality rates have addressed only duration, not quality, of sleep. The authors prospectively examined the effects of sleep disturbances on mortality rates and on important risk factors for mortality, such as body mass index, hypertension, and diabetes. A total of 16,989 participants in the GAZEL cohort study were asked validated questions on sleep disturbances in 1990 and were followed up until 2009, with