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Open WellbeingWhat the studies actually measured

Sleep

Magnesiumand Total sleep time

Only one source here so far, and it measured higher total sleep time.

How sure anyone can be

Low certainty, level 2 of 4

Further research is likely to change this.

The numbers reported

One source’s range, drawn against its own line of no difference and scaled to its own numbers.

-5.9916.06 minutes38.12

This range crosses the no-difference line, so these numbers fit a real difference and no difference at all equally well.

Bar the confidence interval — the range the true effect is likely to sit inNotch the number the source reportedLine where there would be no difference at all

One source, newest first

What we read is the published paper itself. A blank below means that detail was not recorded in this reading. A fixed rule worked this out from the source’s own fields. Nobody checked this rating by hand.

  • Meta-analysis, 2021 · 2 studies pooled · 55 participants

    Low certainty, level 2 of 4

    Oral magnesium supplementation for insomnia in older adults: a Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis.

    BMC Complement Med Ther. 2021;21(1):125. doi:10.1186/s12906-021-03297-z. PMID:33865376.

    This source later carried a notice: Erratum in BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024 Dec 19;24(1):418. doi: 10.1186/s12906-024-04721-w. The number below is exactly as the source gave it.

    Number reported
    16.06 minutes
    Which way it went
    Higher
    Likely range
    -5.99 to 38.12
    Source’s own words
    Not recorded in this reading
    Who was studied
    Pooled analysis of 2 RCTs, N=55 older adults with insomnia
    Compared with
    Placebo
    Amount taken
    Not recorded in this reading
    For how long
    Not recorded in this reading
    Disagreement between studies
    Reported heterogeneity: I² = 0; test p = 0.09.
    Kind of record
    Journal article
    How this rating was reachedstarts at High, 2 steps down: risk of bias and imprecision
    1. Starts at High
    2. Risk of bias brought it down to Moderatethe abstract's own appraisal reports serious study limitationsReported in the abstract
    3. Imprecision brought it down to Lowthe confidence interval includes no effectReported in the abstract
    4. Ends at Low2 steps down.
    Checked, nothing to step it down for
    indirectness
    Inconsistency
    No high disagreement reported between the 2 studies it pooled

    Imprecision stops at the first check that applies; others may apply too.

    Signed & independently replayed for public reading; not used by recommendation answers.

    Open the paper record on PubMed

What is still missing from these readings

  • Amount taken — Not recorded in this reading.
  • For how long — Not recorded in this reading.

Something nobody wrote down is never a zero and never a guess.

Still to read for Magnesium

11 of the 21 things on our list for Magnesium have no reading here yet:

  • Atrial fibrillation incidence
  • Bone mineral density
  • Cognitive performance
  • Depression
  • Fasting insulin
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
  • Hemoglobin A1c
  • Insomnia Severity Index
  • Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
  • Sleep efficiency
  • Total testosterone

Still to read means nobody here has got to it, not that it was tried and did nothing or that no research exists. A pairing on no list is not a gap: we never set out to read it.

Read next

This is a library, not advice. No recommendation, no dose, no diagnosis, no ranking. We never ask about your symptoms, and nothing here is tailored to you.