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ASSOCIATION OF NIGHTTIME SLEEP AND DAYTIME FUNCTION IN OLDER ADULTS

Changes in nighttime sleep, daytime napping, and fatigue are common complaints in older adults. This study investigated the association between nighttime and daytime sleep, fatigue, and daytime physical function in two cohorts of older adults (75-85 years); The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) and the Health Aging and Body Composition Study (Health ABC).
In SOF, measured short sleep duration (less than or equal to 6 hours) was associated with slower gait speed and long sleep duration (greater than or equal to 7.5 hours) was associated with longer time to complete 5 chair stands. More wake after sleep onset was associated with slower gait speed, longer time to complete 5 chair stands, lower grip strength and higher odds of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) impairment. Women with higher daytime sleep took longer to complete 5 chair stands and had higher odds of IADL impairment. These findings supported the hypothesis that older women with disturbed sleep would have poorer function.
In Health ABC, there was a wide range of fatigue symptoms. Compared to self-reported sleep durations of 7 hrs/night, >8 hrs/night was associated with 7% higher fatigue. Awakening during the night or wakening too early in the morning were each associated with 6% higher fatigue. These results remained after multivariate adjustment independent of comorbidity. The association between disturbed nighttime sleep and reported fatigue symptoms suggests that better and more effective behavioral management of sleep may help reduce fatigue in older adults.
In the Health ABC ancillary sleep study, 75.7% of the participant's recorded at least one nap/week in their sleep-wake diary. Individuals with more fragmented nighttime sleep, self-reported diabetes, pain, or respiratory symptoms had higher odds of recording a nap. In the group that napped neither sleep duration nor fragmentation the night before the nap was associated with nap duration the next day. Identification of causes and methods to reduce fragmented sleep may help lessen daytime napping in older adults.
The public health importance of these findings is that sleep duration and quality are important factors in the daytime function of older adults, and may be important targets for intervention to improve quality of life.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-07172006-162215
Date25 September 2006
CreatorsGoldman, Suzanne E
ContributorsKaren A. Matthews, PhD, Jane A. Cauley, DrPH, Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH, Robert Boudreau, Martica Hall, PhD
PublisherUniversity of Pittsburgh
Source SetsUniversity of Pittsburgh
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-07172006-162215/
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