Objective:

To determine the effect of omega-3 on the quality/quantity of sleep in humans.

Methods:

We conducted a systematic search for articles (2010-2019), including patients without age or sex limitation, undergoing omega-3 diet change or supplementation and sleep assessments. The review was conducted under the PICOT and PRISMA criteria, the quality of evidence and risk of bias were evaluated with GRADE criteria.

Results:

Six trials passed all filters. Two studies included dietary fish and four omega-3 capsule intake. In four studies, omega-3 favored sleep with moderately positive impact on quality and high impact on quantity. The studies were conducted with highly heterogeneous variables, making a quantitative analysis of the data impossible. The risk of bias was moderate to high.

Conclusion:

Omega-3 as a dietary supplement or directly in food intervenes as an adjuvant to improve sleep. We could not conclude on its recommendation for clinical use in sleep management due to the heterogeneity of the methodologies to measure the intervention, the populations studied and amount of intake. Studies with greater methodological standardization are needed, to determine optimal dose, intervention period and eicosapentaenoic/docosahexaenoic acid ratio, needed to improve sleep quality and quantity.

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