Sleep disturbances may decline by aging
University of Pennsylvania researchers say healthy people in their 80s are less likely to have sleep disturbances and daytime fatigue compared with other age groups.
The team found that sleeping problems are more likely to be associated with health problems and depression rather than aging itself.
The study included randomized phone interviews with more than 155,000 adults who answered questions about their sleeping patterns.
According to the results published in the journal Sleep, people between the ages of 18 and 24 reported sleep problems more than those over 80.
Michael A. Grandner and colleagues found that sleep quality consistently improves with age, except for a small spike among middle-aged people of 40 to 59 years old.
Reports of tiredness were also highest among the youngest women, at 29.9 percent. The rate fell gradually until the late 60s to 20.5 percent and rose again to 25.3 percent in those at the age of 80 and older.
The rates of tiredness among men remained almost steady around 19 percent until the late 70s and then rose to 22.9 percent.
Scientists say factors such as disease, stress, and depression are more likely to influence sleep quality than biological age.
The study challenges the common wisdom that subjective problems with nighttime sleep and daytime tiredness are more common in older adults.
“This flies in the face of popular belief," said Grandner. “These results force us to re-think what we know about sleep in older people -- men and women.”
Researchers suggested that complaining about sleep issues in older adults may be a sign of other underlying mental or physical problems.
“Once you factor out things like illness and depression, older people should be reporting better sleep. If they’re not, they need to talk to their doctor. They shouldn’t just ignore it,” Grandner recommended.
Source: presstv.ir
