INSÔNIA: PREVALÊNCIA E FATORES DE RISCO RELACIONADOS EM POPULAÇÃO DE IDOSOS ACOMPANHADOS EM AMBULATÓRIO

Association between sleep problems and functional disability in community-dwelling older adults

BACKGROUND

Sleep problems are frequently observed in older adults. They can lead to changes in the individual's physical, occupational, cognitive, and social functioning, compromising the performance of activities of daily living and contributing to the occurrence of functional disability. This study evaluated the association between sleep problems and functional disability in community-dwelling older adults.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study with data from 10,507 Brazilian community-dwelling older adults participating in the 2013 National Health Survey. The exposure variable was self-reported sleep problems in the last two weeks. The outcome measure was functional disability assessed from self-reported questionnaires, categorized into basic activities of daily living (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and defined as not being able to perform or having little or a lot of difficulty in at least one of the activities investigated in the domain of interest.

RESULTS

Older adults who reported sleep problems had 1.53 (95%CI: 1.34; 1.75) and 1.42 (95%CI: 1.26; 1.59) greater odds of having a disability in BADL and IADL when compared to individuals who reported having no sleep problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Older adults with sleep problems were more likely to have a functional disability, both in BADL and IADL. Thus, it is important to implement strategies to screen for sleep problems in older adults in primary health care as a preventive strategy for functional disability.

Validation of the geriatric sleep questionnaire

OBJECTIVE

Assessing sleep in later life is essential for diagnosing and treating sleep problems and their consequences. We aimed to test a short questionnaire specifically designed to assess the subjective sleep quality in older people, the Geriatric Sleep Questionnaire (GSQ).

METHOD

The GSQ was validated in a Portuguese sample of older people (N = 443; 65-100 years; M = 80.02; SD = 6.95). We analyzed reliability, factor validity, convergent validity with other theoretical similar constructs, discriminant validity with a theoretically divergent measure, and predictive power to detect sleep problems (ROC analysis).

RESULTS

A six-item version was obtained with good reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.79), and adequate convergent and divergent validity (p < 0.01). ROC analysis revealed a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 66.7% in detecting sleep problems with a cutoff point of 16 (AUC = 0.72). Older people in social care, low education, and living in rural areas reported worse sleep quality.

CONCLUSION

The GSQ-6 is a brief instrument with good psychometric characteristics to assess the subjective sleep quality in older people. The GSQ-6 seems to be a valuable tool for future investigations on the relationship of sleep quality with mental health and well-being in older people.

Quality of life and associated morbidities among elderly persons registered with the Family Health Strategy of Senador Guiomard in the state of Acre

Objectives: To verify the prevalence of a low quality of life and analyze the morbidities associated with such a condition among elderly persons registered with the Family Health Strategy of the municipality of Senador Guiomard. Method : A cross-sectional study was performed of elderly persons registered with the Family Health Strategy in the urban area of the municipality of Senador Guiomard in the state of Acre. A comparison between men and women regarding morbidities and quality of life was performed using Pearson's chi-squared test. The associations between the tertiles of quality of life and morbidities were estimated by odds ratio through multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results : There were differences between men and women in the reporting of hypertension (p=0.015), diabetes (p=0.033), in the psychological domain (p=0.009) and in total quality of life (<0.001). Elderly people classified in the lower tertile of the physical and social domains of quality of life were more likely to suffer from hypertension, cardiovascular disorders and anemia. Those in the lower tertile of the psychological domain were also more likely to suffer from hypertension, cardiovascular disorders and insomnia, as well as anemia. Elderly individuals in the lower overall tertile were more likely to suffer from hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, insomnia and anemia. No statistically significant associations were found for the environmental domain. Conclusion : The total quality of life and the physical, psychological and social domains of quality of life can be considered good indicators of the described morbidities among the elderly. The environmental domain, however, was not a useful indicator.