Association of Sleep Quality With Activity and Participation in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relation of self-reported sleep quality with the International Classification of Functioning domains of activity (eg, physical functioning) and participation (eg, disability).

DESIGN

Descriptive, secondary, cross-sectional data analysis

SETTING

General community

PARTICIPANTS

Community-dwelling older adults, volunteers, n=249 INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, self-reported measures of activity and participation by the Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument, the Modified Gait Efficacy Scale for confidence in walking, and performance-based measures of physical functioning (gait speed, 6-minute Walk Test, Figure-of-8 Walk Test, and Short Physical Performance Battery). Measures of function were regressed on sleep quality adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities.

RESULTS

Older adults with good (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index ≤5) compared with poor (>5) sleep quality reported better function and disability across almost all considered domains (P<.05). Effect sizes for self-reported and performance-based measures were comparable and in the small to moderate range.

CONCLUSIONS

Among older adults with mild to moderate functional limitations and disability, self-reported sleep quality related broadly to activity and participation. Experimental studies are needed to assess the effects of sleep interventions on activity and participation and understand if sleep quality may represent a novel treatment target in future intervention trials to improve function in older adults.