Research from Penn State and Taipei Medical University found that increases in insomnia symptoms and sleep medication use significantly heighten disability risk in older adults. The study highlights the urgent need for safe and effective insomnia treatment.
Up to half of adults over 65 experience insomnia symptoms, a condition that not only disrupts sleep but also severely impacts daily life. A new study from Penn State College of Health and Human Development and Taipei Medical University reveals that both insomnia and the use of sleep medications are significantly linked to increased disability risk in seniors.
Analyzing five years of data from over 6,700 older adults in the United States, the researchers discovered that each incremental rise in insomnia symptoms raised the risk of disability by 20%. A similar increase in risk was noted with greater sleep medication use.
“When we evaluated the relationships between disability, insomnia and sleep medication use, we found that as older people used more sleep medication or experienced more insomnia symptoms, they moved more rapidly towards greater disability,” co-author Orfeu Buxton, an Elizabeth Fenton Susman Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State, said in a news release.
This study, published in the journal Sleep, utilized data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), covering Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. The dataset included more than 22,000 observations collected over the first five waves of data from 2011 to 2015.
The researchers measured disability using a validated questionnaire that assessed self-care and mobility activities. They quantified insomnia symptoms and sleep medication use on a five-level frequency scale, ranging from “never” (one point) to “every night” (five points).
For every level increase in reported insomnia symptoms, the disability score was, on average, 0.2 points higher the following year, while each level increase in sleep medication use raised the score by 0.19 points.
“These results indicate that both insomnia and sleep medication use may be contributing to disability,” added lead author Tuo-Yu “Tim” Chen, an assistant professor of global health and health security at Taipei Medical University. “As an average example, these numbers suggest that an older adult who increased their sleep medication use from ‘never’ to ‘every night’ over the course of five years would be likely to develop a clinically significant disability. On an individual level, we cannot predict risk so specifically, but if an older adult has prolonged sleep problems and/or sleep-medication use over time, they are very likely to become disabled.”
The connections found between insomnia and sleep medication use were not surprising to the researchers but confirmed their hypothesis. A prior study by this research team also indicated that sleep medication increases the likelihood of falls in older adults, which could contribute to higher disability levels.
Given these findings, managing insomnia safely and effectively is crucial for improving the quality of life in older adults.
“Insomnia can decrease a person’s quality of life both directly and indirectly,” added co-author Soomi Lee, an associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State. “Any older adult who experiences insomnia or uses sleep medication needs to talk to their physician about sleep.”
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps individuals modify disruptive thought and behavior patterns, presents a safe and effective alternative to sleep medications. Lee emphasized the importance of discussing sleep problems with physicians to ensure that drug interactions are not causing insomnia and to connect seniors with safer insomnia treatments.
“Many older adults think sleep disruptions are a natural part of aging, but they are a real problem that must be addressed,” Lee added. “And that problem is unlikely to improve unless people talk to their doctors.”
This study underscores the need for greater awareness and treatment of insomnia in the aging population, highlighting the necessity for health care providers to consider non-pharmacological interventions to mitigate the risk of disability.
Source: Pennsylvania State University