Sleep in Assisted Living Facility Residents Versus Home-Dwelling Older Adults

• Published in: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Vol. 63; no. 12; pp. 1407 - 1409
• Main Authors: Martin, Jennifer L., Alam, Tarannum, Harker, Judith O., Josephson, Karen R., Alessi, Cathy A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 01-12-2008
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Assisted living; Assisted Living Facilities; Circadian rhythms; Comparative studies; Female; Geriatric Assessment; Humans; Male; Older people; Pilot Projects; Sleep; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1079-5006; 1758-535X
• DOI: 10.1093/gerona/63.12.1407

Background. Sleep problems among assisted living facility (ALF) residents are not well understood, and sleep-related differences between ALF residents and home-dwelling older adults have not been examined. Methods. We compared sleep patterns in 19 ALF residents to sleep patterns in 19 matched home-dwelling older people (age ≥65 years). All were participating in the follow-up portion of a longitudinal study of sleep and functional outcomes following post-acute rehabilitation. Sleep was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and 1 week of wrist actigraphy. Results. By actigraphy, ALF residents awoke earlier in the morning and exhibited more nighttime awakenings compared to home-dwelling participants (06:50 hours ± 1:29 hours vs 07:51 hours ± 1:19 hours and 19.5 ± 8.5 vs 12.9 ± 11.4 awakenings, respectively). Conclusions. Larger studies are needed to confirm these initial findings that ALF residents have more disrupted sleep than do home-dwelling older persons, and to examine the functional and health consequences of poor sleep among ALF residents.