Self report on sleep symptoms in older adults: correlates of daytime sleepiness and health.

Sleep problems in the healthy elderly were studied in 628 community-dwelling older adults. Self-report of daytime sleepiness in this group was evaluated. Self-reported snoring was significantly associated with reports of daytime sleepiness (p < 0.001), and reported health showed significant associations with age group (p < 0.001), reports of breathing problems (p < 0.001), and reports of excessive daytime sleepiness (p < 0.01). The data strongly support the impact of sleep-related factors on self-perceptions of health in community dwelling older adults. Even as a subjective self-report measure, snoring readily predicts self-reported problems with daytime sleepiness.