Objectives
To examine diary-based, laboratory-based, and actigraphic measures of sleep in a group
of healthy older women and men (≥75 years of age) without sleep/wake complaints and
to describe sleep characteristics which may be correlates of health-related quality
of life in old age.
Design
Cross-sectional, descriptive study.
Setting
University-based sleep and chronobiology program.
Intervention
None.
Participants
Sixty-four older adults (30 women, 34 men; mean age 79).
Measurements
We used diary-, actigraphic-, and laboratory-based measures of sleep, health-related
quality of life, mental health, social support, and coping strategies. We used two-group
t-tests to compare baseline demographic and clinical measures between men and women,
followed by ANOVA on selected EEG measures to examine first-night effects as evidence
of physiological adaptability. Finally, we examined correlations between measure of
sleep and health-related quality of life.
Results
We observed that healthy men and women aged 75 and older can experience satisfactory
nocturnal sleep quality and daytime alertness, especially as reflected in self-report
and diary-based measures. Polysomnography (psg) suggested the presence of a first-night
effect, especially in men, consistent with continued normal adaptability in this cohort
of healthy older adults. Continuity and depth of sleep in older women were superior
to that of men. Diary-based measures of sleep quality (but not psg measures) correlated
positively (small to moderate effect sizes) with physical and mental health-related
quality of life.
Conclusions
Sleep quality and daytime alertness in late life may be more important aspects of
successful aging than previously appreciated. Good sleep may be a marker of good functioning
across a variety of domains in old age. Our observations suggest the need to study
interventions which protect sleep quality in older adults to determine if doing so
fosters continued successful aging.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
June 25,
2007
Received in revised form:
June 15,
2007
Received:
May 11,
2007
Footnotes
This work was supported in part by the following grants: P01 AG20677, P30 MH071944, R01 MH37869, R01 MH43832, and T32 MH19986.
The authors thank their subjects for participation in the study.
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
