Sleep problems and associated daytime fatigue in community-dwelling older individuals

Abstract

Background. Reported fatigue has been identified as a component of frailty. The contribution of nighttime sleep quality (duration and complaints) to fatigue symptoms in community-dwelling older adults has not been evaluated. Methods. We studied 2264 men and women, aged 75-84 years (mean 77.5 years; standard deviation [SD] 2.9), participating in the Year 5 (2001-2002) clinic visit of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. Fatigue was determined using a subscale of the Modified Piper Fatigue Scale (0-50; higher score indicating higher fatigue). Hours of sleep per night, trouble falling asleep, waking up during the night, and waking up too early in the morning were assessed using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Results. The average fatigue score was 17.7 (SD 8.4). In multivariate models, women had a 3.8% higher fatigue score than men did. Individuals who slept ≤6 hours/night had a 4.3% higher fatigue score than did those who slept 7 hours/night. Individuals with complaints of awakening too early in the morning had a 5.5% higher fatigue score than did those without these complaints. These associations remained significant after multivariate adjustment for multiple medical conditions. Conclusion. The association between self-reported short sleep duration (≤6 hours), and waking up too early and fatigue symptoms suggests that better and more effective management of sleep behaviors may help reduce fatigue in older adults. Copyright 2008 by The Gerontological Society of America.