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The Experience of Insomnia Among Older Women
Byles JE, Mishra GD, Harris MA
SLEEP. 2005;28(8):972-979
Overview
This study evaluated sleeping difficulty and sleep quality among
older women. In addition, the study authors explored the participants'
experiences and attitudes toward sleep, and tested for negative associations
between difficulty sleeping and health-related quality of life.
Methods
Subjects were participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study
on Women's Health. The investigators measured sleeping difficulty
and sleeping medication use at Survey 1 (baseline), Survey 2 (3 years
later), and Survey 3 (4 years later). Women were sampled according
to use of sleeping medication and classified into 4 groups: sleeping
badly and using sleeping medications; not sleeping badly, but using
sleeping medications; sleeping badly, not using sleeping medications;
and not sleeping badly, not using sleeping medications. Additional
data from a randomly selected subsample of women who participated
in Survey 2 were also collected. Survey 3 included the Nottingham
Health Profile Sleep Subscale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index,
the Epworth Sleepiness
Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Duke Social Support Index,
the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36-item Health Survey (SF-36),
and a 21-item life events scale. A total of 1011 women (84%) returned
Survey 3.
Results
Nested multiple linear regression models were constructed to identify
a relationship between quality of life and measures of sleep quality.
Sleeping problems were negatively associated with SF-36 subscale scores.
Most associations that remained significant after comorbid conditions,
including depression, stressful life events, and medication use, were
added to the models. Most women with sleeping problems (72%) sought
help from a doctor, and 54% had used prescribed sleeping medications
in the past month.
The study authors concluded that sleeping difficulty is a serious
symptom for older women and is associated with a poorer quality of
life.
Comment
One of the goals of this study was to determine whether sleep disturbances
in older women are benign or whether they relate to a decline in physical
health. The results of this study suggest that even after controlling
other comorbid factors, poor sleep itself still produced a poorer
quality of life. However, because the predictors of sleep quality
used are only semiquantitative, it is difficult to assess how much
poor sleep per se contributes to a poorer quality of life.
Related: insomnia
in menopause
Abnormal sleep patterns
dangerous for older men
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