Self-Reported Insomnia and Poor Sleep Quality Are Associated with Self-Reported Cognitive Changes in Older Adults

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Sleep Medicine
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Aging is associated with sleep changes, impacting older adults' vulnerability.
• Poor sleep quality correlates with self-reported cognitive changes, potentially preceding Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
• Understanding the link between sleep, cognition, and mental health in older adults is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate associations between self-reported sleep complaints, objective sleep quality, and self-reported cognitive changes in community-dwelling older adults.
• To examine the relationship between these sleep and cognitive factors and symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• To determine if subjective or objective sleep measures better predict cognitive changes.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 45 non-demented adults aged 50+ for 1-2 weeks of rest-activity monitoring.
• Administered validated questionnaires: Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Cognitive Function Instrument (CFI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7).
• Utilized Pearson partial correlations to analyze relationships, controlling for depression and anxiety symptoms.

Main Results:

• Higher Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores significantly correlated with increased self-reported cognitive changes (CFI scores).
• Subjective sleep quality (PSQI) and actigraphy-based objective sleep measures did not significantly correlate with cognitive changes.
• Specific PSQI components, including worse subjective sleep quality, shorter sleep duration, and increased sleep medication use, correlated with higher CFI scores.

Conclusions:

• Worse subjective sleep quality, characterized by reduced sleep time, fragmented sleep, and medication dependence, may be linked to greater memory concerns in older adults.
• The relationship may be bidirectional, with cognitive worries potentially impacting sleep quality.
• Subjective sleep quality assessments are valuable tools for identifying older adults at increased risk for cognitive decline.