Men suffering from sleep deprivation are more likely to die prematurely than those who regularly get a good night's sleep, a new study has found.

Researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine, Pennsylvania, found that men with chronic insomnia were four times more likely to die than those with healthy sleep patterns.

But, women appear able to cope with sleep deprivation without lowering their life expectancy, they found.

The study, according to the researchers, adds to growing evidence that too little sleep can have long-term health implications.

"The primary finding of our study is that insomnia, the most common sleep disorder, is associated with significant mortality in men," said lead researcher Dr Alexandros Vgontzas of the Penn State College of Medicine.

"Until now, no study has demonstrated that insomnia is associated with mortality," Dr Vgontzas was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail .

For their study, the scientists looked at the sleep patterns of 1,000 women and 741 men, who joined the study in the 1990s and provided a detailed sleep history. They also had their sleep monitored during one night in a laboratory.

Eight per cent of women and four per cent of men were diagnosed by the scientists as having chronic insomnia and sleeping on average fewer than six hours a night.

But over the following 14 years, men with chronic insomnia were four times more likely to die than those with more healthy sleep patterns.

The findings took into account diseases that could cause the men to sleep badly -- such as diabetes and high blood pressure -- and risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use, depression, obesity and sleeping disorders.

However, women with insomnia were just as likely to die in the following decade as those without, the researchers found.

Men were at an even greater risk of premature death if they suffered from chronic insomnia and diabetes or high blood pressure.

"We believe that cumulatively these findings will increase the awareness among physicians and scientists that insomnia should be diagnosed early and treated appropriately," said Dr Vgontzas.

Although the researchers are unsure why insomnia is more dangerous for men, they suggested most adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep each night.

The findings of the study are published in the medical journal Sleep .