Aging
Gracefully and Sleeping Well
.
NSF's
Latest Poll Shows That Sleep, Health and Aging Are Linked.
HEALTHY
OLDER ADULTS TEND TO SLEEP WELL, BUT THOSE WITH HEALTH PROBLEMS ALSO TEND
TO HAVE SLEEP PROBLEMS. IS THERE A CONNECTION?
Nan
Jansen is an active retired woman in her 80s, living in Bethesda, MD. She
volunteers several days a week, delivering Meals on Wheels, serving on the
auxiliary board of a center for children with emotional problems, and
playing chauffeur to some of her older friends who have difficulty getting
around.
She
sleeps about seven hours each night and rarely has difficulty sleeping.
Once in awhile, she wakes up during the night and can't get back to sleep.
Back pain is often the cause of her sleep disturbance. She doesn't usually
take a nap during the day.
Nan
Jansen is similar to many of the respondents to NSF's 2003 Sleep in
America poll, which is the first NSF poll to look at the sleep habits of
older Americans—those between the ages of 55 and 84—and the
association between their sleep behavior, their medical and physical
conditions, their outlook and their lifestyles.
The
poll results suggest that, like Nan, many older Americans are sleeping
well and may actually sleep better than adults aged 18–54. More older
adults are sleeping 7- 9 hours on both weeknights and weekends (56% vs.
51% for weeknights and 60% vs. 55% for weekends). Additionally, the 32% of
older adults who nap 1–3 days a week or more get an average of 41–51
minutes of supplemental sleep time.
A
closer look at the NSF poll data, however, found a striking
relationship between two sets of factors infrequently considered together
in medical care: the health and quality of life of older adults, and their
sleep quantity and quality. The NSF poll found that the better the
health of older adults, the more likely they are to sleep well.
Conversely, the greater the number of diagnosed medical conditions, the
more likely they are to report sleep problems. Additionally, among
older adults, more positive moods and outlooks as well as having more
active and "engaged" lifestyles (having someone to speak with
about a problem, exercise, volunteer activity, etc.) are associated with
sleeping 7–9 hours and fewer sleep complaints.
"In
spite of the emerging science linking sleep quality and health
status," says NSF President James K. Walsh, PhD,
"Most people believe that poor sleep is an inevitable consequence of
getting older. But NSF’s poll findings reinforce the relationship
between good sleep and good overall health, particularly in older
individuals.
Rather than a consequence of aging, poor sleep among older Americans appears to be an indicator of health status." Dr. Walsh is Executive Director and Senior Scientist of the Sleep Medicine and Research Center at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, MO.
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