Study | Sleep disturbances affect older population

A study funded by the Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM) found that 38.1 percent of the participants in a sleep disturbances study suffer from sleep disturbances.

Published online earlier this year and authored by 10 researchers, the study was conducted between September 1 and November 30, 2015. The research included data collected from 20 nursing homes across Macau. The research was targeted to local Chinese residents, aged at least 50 years old, selected from the aforementioned nursing homes. 

Other participants in the local community were also consecutively recruited from social centers near their residence and in the same districts as their residence.

In total, 470 senior citizens were evaluated, with 451 (203 from local communities and 248 from the aforementioned nursing homes) deemed to qualify for the study, having completed their assessments, giving the study a 95.9 participation rate.

According to the study, DIS (difficulty initiating sleeping), DMS (difficulty maintaining sleep), and EMA (early morning awakening) was found in 18.6 percent, 31.3 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively, of the patients. Furthermore, 38.1 percent claimed to have one type of sleep disturbance. More specifically, one, two and three types of sleep disturbances were reported by 14.9 percent, 10.9 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively, of the surveyed senior citizens.

In addition, the study also found that 9.9 percent of the interviewees who suffer from sleep disturbances are taking sleeping pills.

“The low treatment rate may be due to two reasons: there are no sleep clinics in Macau; and, medical practitioners less frequently inquire about sleeping problems due to an inadequate emphasis on this area in medical education,” the study states.

When comparing men and women, 21.1 percent of the female older adults were found with the prevalence of DIS, while the proportion is only 9.3 in men.

The survey results also showed that the older the people are, the higher prevalence of DIS can be found, with the highest recorded prevalence of DIS in the age group of those over 85 years old.

Regarding the occurrence of DMS, 35.2 percent and 16.6 percent of the female and male citizens interviewed suffer from this kind of sleep disturbances.

Women continue to show a higher prevalence of sleep disturbances, particularly in terms of the prevalence of EMA. According to the survey, 27.4 percent of the surveyed senior female citizens are dealing with EMA, and only 11.4 percent of the male residents are experiencing EMA.

No absolute increase in the prevalence of sleep disturbances can be linked to the increase of age.

“Compared with the ‘no–sleep disturbance’ group, older adults with sleep disturbances were more likely to be older, to live in nursing homes, to have less household income, and to have more severe depressive symptoms, while they were less likely to be male, married, and living with others,” the study reads.

Women were found “more likely to suffer from sleep disturbances.”

The study suggested that “considering the harmful consequences of sleep disturbances and their low treatment rate found in older adults in Macau, serious attempts should be made to diagnose sleep disturbances early and improve access to treatment in Macau.” JZ