Sleep Duration and Sleep Quality Associated with Dietary Index in Free-Living Very Old Adults

The main purpose of the present study was to determine the associations between sleep duration and sleep quality with respect to dietary habits. In this cross-sectional study, 810 free-living older adults aged ≥85 years were recruited from six neighborhoods from the city of Zagreb. Diet, sleep duration and sleep quality were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. The associations between sleep duration and sleep quality with respect to dietary habits were examined using generalized estimating equations with Poisson regression analyses. After adjusting for body-mass index, self-rated health, psychological distress, physical activity, socioeconomic status, chronic disease/s, sex and age, we revealed that 'short' (<7 h; Rate Ratio (RR) = 0.43; 95% CI(confident interval) 0.30 to 0.64) and 'long' (>8 h; RR = 0.26; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.48) sleep durations and 'good' sleep quality (RR = 1.13; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.20) were associated with a 'moderate-to-high' healthy diet. When sleep duration and sleep quality were entered simultaneously into Model 3, 'short' (RR = 0.28; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.44 and 'long' (RR = 0.27; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.52) sleep duration and 'good' sleep quality (RR = 1.14; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.25) remained associated with a 'moderate-to-high' healthy diet. Our study shows that both 'short' and 'long' sleep duration and 'good' sleep quality are associated with 'moderate-to-high' healthy diets.