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
. 2016 Mar;24(3):248-58.
doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2015.12.002. Epub 2016 Jan 29.

Measures of Sleep-Wake Patterns and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia in Older Women

Susan J Diem  1 , Terri L Blackwell  2 , Katie L Stone  2 , Kristine Yaffe  3 , Greg Tranah  2 , Jane A Cauley  4 , Sonia Ancoli-Israel  5 , Susan Redline  6 , Adam P Spira  7 , Teresa A Hillier  8 , Kristine E Ensrud  9
Affiliations

Measures of Sleep-Wake Patterns and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia in Older Women

Susan J Diem et al. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Sleep disturbances are common in older adults. Little is known about the sleep of cognitively intact older adults and its relationship to subsequent cognitive impairment. The objective of this study was to examine the association between objective sleep-wake measures and risk of incident cognitive impairment.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study encompassing four U.S. sites, 1,245 women (mean age: 82.6 years) without dementia participated in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures and completed actigraphy at the baseline visit and comprehensive cognitive assessment at follow-up. The association between sleep-wake patterns measured by actigraphy and risk of incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia was examined.

Results: A total of 473 women (38%) developed cognitive impairment during an average (SD) follow-up of 4.9 (0.6) years; 290 (23.3%) developed MCI and 183 (14.7%) developed dementia. After controlling for multiple potential confounders, women in the lowest quartile of average sleep efficiency (<74%) had a 1.5-fold higher odds of developing MCI or dementia compared with women in the highest quartile of sleep efficiency (>86%) (odds ratio: Q1 versus Q4 1.53; 95% CI: 1.07, 2.19; Wald χ(2) [1, N = 1,223] = 5.34 for p for trend = 0.03). Longer average sleep latency, but not total sleep time, was also associated with higher odds of developing cognitive impairment. Greater variability in both sleep efficiency and total sleep time was associated with an increased odds of developing MCI or dementia.

Conclusion: Lower average sleep efficiency, longer average sleep latency, and greater variability in sleep efficiency and total sleep time are associated with increased odds of developing cognitive impairment. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms underlying these associations.

Keywords: actigraphy; cognitive aging; dementia; older women; sleep disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hebert LE, Weuve J, Scherr PA, et al. Alzheimer disease in the United States (2010-2050) estimated using the 2010 census. Neurology. 2013;80(19):1778–1783. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vitiello MV, Prinz PN. Alzheimer's disease. Sleep and sleep/wake patterns. Clin Geriatr Med. 1989;5(2):289–299. - PubMed
    1. Cricco M, Simonsick EM, Foley DJ. The impact of insomnia on cognitive functioning in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001;49(9):1185–1189. - PubMed
    1. Foley D, Monjan A, Masaki K, et al. Daytime sleepiness is associated with 3-year incident dementia and cognitive decline in older Japanese-American men. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001;49(12):1628–1632. - PubMed
    1. Jelicic M, Bosma H, Ponds RW, et al. Subjective sleep problems in later life as predictors of cognitive decline. Report from the Maastricht Ageing Study (MAAS). Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002;17(1):73–77. - PubMed

Publication types