Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2009 Jan;32(1):73-82.

Race and financial strain are independent correlates of sleep in midlife women: the SWAN sleep study

Martica H Hall  1 , Karen A Matthews, Howard M Kravitz, Ellen B Gold, Daniel J Buysse, Joyce T Bromberger, Jane F Owens, MaryFran Sowers
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Race and financial strain are independent correlates of sleep in midlife women: the SWAN sleep study

Martica H Hall et al. Sleep. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

Study objectives: To examine racial differences in sleep in a large cohort of midlife women and to evaluate whether indices of socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with racial differences in sleep.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Participants' homes.

Participants: Caucasian (n=171), African American (n=138) and Chinese women (n=59).

Interventions: None.

Measurements: Sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Polysomnographically assessed sleep duration, continuity, architecture, and NREM electroencephalograhic (EEG) power were calculated over multiple nights. Sleep disordered breathing and periodic leg movements were measured on a separate night. Linear regression analysis was used to model the independent and synergistic effects of race and SES on sleep after adjusting for other factors that impact sleep in midlife women. Indices of SES were self-reported educational attainment and financial strain.

Results: Sleep was worse in African American women than Caucasian participants as measured by self-report, visual sleep stage scoring, and NREM EEG power. Slow wave sleep differences were also observed between Chinese and Caucasian participants. Racial differences persisted after adjustment for indices of SES. Although educational attainment was unrelated to sleep, financial strain was associated with decreased sleep quality and lower sleep efficiency. Financial strain-by-race interactions were not statistically significant, suggesting that financial strain has additive effects on sleep, independent of race.

Conclusions: Independent relationships between race and financial strain with sleep were observed despite statistical adjustment for other factors that might account for these relationships. Results do not suggest that assessed indices of SES moderate the race-sleep relationship, perhaps due to too few women of low SES in the study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1a
Figure 1a
Prevalence of clinically significant subjective sleep quality complaints (PSQI > 5) by race.
Figure 1b
Figure 1b
Prevalence of PSG-assessed clinically significant sleep disturbances by race.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jean-Louis G, Magai C, Casimir GJ, et al. Insomnia symptoms in a multiethnic sample of american women. J Womens Health (Larchmt ) 2008;17:15–25. - PubMed
    1. Lauderdale DS, Knutson KL, Yan LL, et al. Objectively measured sleep characteristics among early-middle-aged adults: the CARDIA study. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;164:5–16. - PubMed
    1. Profant J, Ancoli-Israel S, Dimsdale JE. Are there ethnic differences in sleep architecture? Am J Hum Biol. 2002;14:21–326. - PubMed
    1. Rao U, Poland RE, Lutchmansingh P, Ott GE, McCracken JT, Lin KM. Relationship between ethnicity and sleep patterns in normal controls: implications for psychopathology and treatment. J Psychiatr Res. 1999;33:419–26. - PubMed
    1. Stepnowsky CJ, Moore PJ, Dimsdale JE. Effect of ethnicity on sleep: complexities for epidemiologic research. Sleep. 2003;26:329–32. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms