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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Sleep-Related Factors and Mobility in Older Men and Women

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SHORT and long sleep duration, sleep-related disturbances, and their daytime consequences are common in older adults, and they are associated with decreased health and increased mortality (1–4). Because aging is associated with decline in physical performance often leading to physical disability and loss of independence, concomitant sleep problems may exacerbate the age-related decline in physical function. Previous studies suggest that self-reported and measured insomnia and sleep-related problems are associated with decline in psychomotor performance (5) as well as with poor balance and increased risk of falls (6–8). In addition, Goldman and coworkers (2007) (9) reported that short (<6 hours) and long (≥7.5 hours) sleep, increased sleep fragmentation, and longer daytime sleep are all associated with decreased physical performance and increased functional limitations in older women. However, the cutpoints used in this study differ from widely used classification: short sleep (≤6 hours) and long sleep (≥9 hours) (2–4). Besides insomnia-related symptoms, daytime consequences of inadequate sleep are frequent among older adults and may have negative effect on physical function. One component of fatigue, tiredness, is associated with walking limitation and development of activities of daily living (ADL) disability in older adults (10–12). Despite the previously described studies concerning sleep-related factors and physical function, several important questions still remain open, such as what is the association of sleep-related factors and mobility. Furthermore, it is not known whether the association between sleep-related factors and measured and self-reported mobility varies across sex or age groups. Examining these questions may help us to recognize persons with an increased risk for mobility limitation. Thus, the aim of this representative population-based study was to examine whether self-reported sleep duration, insomnia-related symptoms, and fatigue are associated with walking speed and self-reported mobility limitation in men and women aged 55–64 and 65 or more years.