Comparisons of Sleep, Demographics, and Health-Related Variables in Older Long and Average Duration Sleepers

Introduction  Long sleep duration is associated with many health risks, particularly in older adults, but little is known about other characteristics associated with long sleep duration. Methods  Across 5 sites, adults aged 60-80 years who reported sleeping 8-9 h ("long sleepers", n = 95) or 6-7.25 h ("average sleepers", n = 103) were assessed for two weeks using actigraphy and sleep diary. Demographic and clinical characteristics, objective sleep apnea screening, self-reported sleep outcomes, and markers of inflammation and glucose regulation were measured. Results  Compared to average sleepers, long sleepers had a greater likelihood of being White and unemployed and/or retired. Long sleepers also reported longer time in bed, total sleep time and wake after sleep onset by sleep diary and by actigraphy. Other measures including medical co-morbidity, apnea/hypopnea index, sleep related outcomes such as sleepiness, fatigue, depressed mood, or markers of inflammation and glucose metabolism did not differ between long and average sleepers. Conclusion  Older adults with long sleep duration were more likely to be White, report unemployment and retirement suggesting the social factors or related sleep opportunity contributed to long sleep duration in the sample. Despite known health risks of long sleep duration, neither co-morbidity nor markers of inflammation or metabolism differed in older adults with long sleep duration compared with those with average sleep duration.