Sleep quality and sleep problems in Mexican Americans aged 75 and older.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Sleep complaints and poor sleep quality are common in the elderly population. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with sleep complaints and poor sleep quality among older Mexican Americans over a 3-year period.

METHODS

One thousand eighty-five non-institutionalized Mexican American aged 75 years and older. Sociodemographic characteristics, medical conditions, depressive symptoms, disability cognitive impairment, body mass index, sleep problems (trouble falling asleep, waking up several times per night, trouble staying asleep and awaking not rested) and overall sleep quality were obtained.

RESULTS

Of 1085 participants, 12.6% reported trouble falling asleep, 30% waking up several times per night, 11.4 % trouble staying asleep, 9.4% awaking not rested and 16.6% poor sleep quality. Depressive symptoms and heart attack predicted trouble falling asleep; diabetes, cancer and obesity predicted waking up several times per night; diabetes, hypertension, cancer and depressive symptoms predicted both trouble staying asleep and awaking not rested. Being female, married, heart attack and depressive symptoms were associated with poor quality sleep.

CONCLUSIONS

Different risk factors were associated with different aspects of sleep complaints. Since poor sleep has been linked to poor outcomes, a good understanding of these factors may help in designing interventions to improve sleep quality in this population.