Depression and sleep duration: findings from middle-aged and elderly people in China

This study aims to investigate whether depression is associated with subsequent sleep duration among middle-aged and elderly people in China.

Cross-sectional study.

Data were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Depression was evaluated from the 2011 baseline survey data using the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D). All other data were extracted from CHARLS 2013 survey data. Sleep duration was assessed according to the American National Sleep Foundation. Participants were divided into subgroups based on their gender (male or female) and age (45-59 years [middle-aged] or ≥60 years [elderly people]). The relative risk ratios (RRRs) were calculated using the multinomial logistic regression analysis method.

No significant associations were found between depression and subsequent long sleep duration among middle-aged and elderly people in China; in addition, no association was found during subgroup analysis. The adjusted RRR (RRR = 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.56-1.88) shows there is a significant association between depression and subsequent short sleep duration among subgroups. The RRR of the male, female, middle-aged, and elderly people were 1.64 (95% CI=1.38-1.95), 1.74 (95% CI=1.56-1.95), 1.68 (95% CI = 1.47-1.92), 1.74 (95% CI = 1.52-1.99), respectively, which revealed that this association was still significant in subgroups.

Findings from this study suggest that there is a complex association between depression and subsequent alternations in sleep duration among middle-aged and elderly people in China.