Association between sleep problems and self-perception of health among community-dwelling older adults: Data from the 2019 national health survey

Background

Sleep problems in the older adults are often linked to their self-perceived health status, significantly affecting their overall well-being. Investigating this relationship is essential to understand how sleep impacts health perception in older adults and to develop targeted strategies to improve their quality of life and health outcomes. The objective was to verifying the association between sleep problems and negative self-perception of health in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

Cross-sectional study, with data from 43,554 older adults participants of the National Health Survey (PNS-2019). The exposure variable was self-report of sleep problems in the last 15 days (difficulty in falling asleep, waking up frequently at night, or sleeping more than usual) and the study endpoints were self-perception of health (positive/negative). Associations were checked using multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Older adults with sleep problems were 1.92 (95 %CI 1.77; 2.08) more likely to have a negative self-perception of health when compared to older adults without sleep problems.

Conclusions

These findings reinforce the need for programs aimed at reducing sleep problems in older adults, since these are associated with negative self-perceptions of health. A better understanding of these associations may help health care professionals to better control sleep disturbances as well as their outcomes.