Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T05:25:37.416Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cross-country variation in sleep disturbance among working and older age groups: an analysis based on the European Social Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2011

A. Dregan  and
D. Armstrong
A. Dregan*
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
D. Armstrong
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr Alex Dregan, Division of Primary Care and Public Health Research, King's College London, 6th Floor Capital House, 42 Weston Street, London, SE1 3QD, UK. Phone: +44 (0)207 8486639, Fax: +44 (0)2078482007. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Sleep disturbance is a common complaint in the general population. There is, however, little cross-national comparative evidence on the prevalence of sleep disturbance and its association with age.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the third wave of the European Social Survey were used to compare both the prevalence of sleep disturbances and its relationship to age among 27,103 respondents over the age of 40 years from 23 European countries. The outcome measures for the study were based on the proportion of respondents reporting restless sleep over the past week and percentage change in the reporting of restless sleep between the 41–65 age group and the 66 and over age group.

Result: The prevalence rate of sleep disturbance varied between and within age groups, as well as between the 23 European countries. Depressive symptoms (OR = 4.14), anxiety (OR = 2.80), and general health (OR = 1.52) were the strongest correlates of sleep disturbance among both the 41–65 age group and the over 66 age group. The highest positive correlation with change in restless sleep reports occurred with respect to health deterioration. Satisfaction with living standards showed the strongest negative association with change in restless sleep reports.

Conclusion: There is considerable variation in reports of sleep disturbance across different European countries. Being in an older age group appears to be associated with worsening sleep, though not always. Different patterns of sleep disturbance seem to indicate the considerable variability of the aging experience across Europe.

Keywords

cross-culturalsleep disturbanceolder peoplerisk factorsEurope
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 23 , Issue 9 , November 2011 , pp. 1413 - 1420
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allison, P. D. (1990). Change scores as dependent variables in regression analysis. Sociological Methodology, 20, 93–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babek, M., Pikhart, H., Hertzman, R., Rose, R. and Marmot, M. (1998). Socioeconomic factors, perceived control and self-reported health in Russia: a cross-sectional survey. Social Science and Medicine, 47, 269–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cappelleri, J. C., Bushmakin, A. G., McDermott, A. M., Sadosky, A. B., Petrie, C. D. and Martin, S. (2009). Psychometric properties of a single-item scale to assess sleep quality among individuals with fibromyalgia. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 7, 54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carskadon, M. A., Dement, W. C., Mitler, M. M., Guilleminault, C., Zarcone, V. P. and Spiegel, R. (1976). Self-reports versus laboratory findings in 122 drug-free subjects with complaints of chronic insomnia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 1382–1388.Google ScholarPubMed
Chevalier, H. et al. (1999). Evaluation of severe insomnia in the general population: results of a European multinational survey. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 13, S21–S24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cote, L. R. and Bornstein, M. H. (2003). Cultural and parenting cognitions in acculturating cultures. 1: Cultural comparisons and developmental continuity and stability. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34, 323–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Domino, G. (1986). Sleep habits in the elderly: a study of three Hispanic cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 17, 109–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dregan, A. and Armstrong, D. (2009). Age, cohort and period effects in the prevalence of sleep disturbances among older people: the impact of economic downturn. Social Science and Medicine, 69, 1432–1438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dregan, A. and Armstrong, D. (2010). Adolescence sleep disturbances as predictors of adulthood sleep disturbances: a cohort study. Journal of Adolescence Health, 46, 482–487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foley, D. J., Monjan, A. A., Browns, S. L., Simonsick, E. M., Wallace, R. B. and Blazer, D. G. (1995). Sleep complaints among elderly persons: an epidemiologic study of three communities. Sleep, 18, 425–432.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gislason, T., Almqvist, M., Eriksson, G., Taube, A. and Boman, G. (1988). Prevalence of sleep apnea syndrome among Swedish men: an epidemiological study. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 41, 571–576.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hankins, M. (2008). The reliability of the twelve-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) under realistic assumptions. BMC Public Health, 8, 355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, A. G., Gregory, A. M. and Bird, C. (2002). The role of cognitive processes in sleep disturbance: a comparison of Japanese and English university students. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 259–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jansson, C. et al. (1995). Prevalence of sleep disturbances among young adults in three European countries. Sleep, 18, 589–597.Google Scholar
Leahy, K. (2000). Multicollinearity: when the solution is the problem. In Rud, O. P. (ed.), Data Mining Cookbook. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Leger, D. and Poursain, B. (2005). An international survey of insomnia: under-recognition and under-treatment of a polysymptomatic condition. Current Medical Research and Opinion, 21, 1785–1792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morin, C. M., LeBlanc, M., Daley, M., Gregoire, J. P. and Merette, C. (2006). Epidemiology of insomnia: prevalence, self-help treatments, consultations, and determinants of help-seeking behaviors. Sleep Medicine, 7, 123–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohayon, M. M. (1997). Prevalence of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria insomnia: distinguishing between insomnia related to mental disorders from sleep disorders. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 31, 333–346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohayon, M. M. (2002). Epidemiology of insomnia: what we know and what we still need to learn. Sleep Medicine Review, 6, 97–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohayon, M. M. and Partinen, M. (2002). Insomnia and global sleep dissatisfaction in Finland. Journal of Sleep Research, 11, 339–346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohayon, M. M. and Reynolds, C. F. (2009). Epidemiological and clinical relevance of insomnia diagnosis algorithms according to the DSM-IV and the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD). Sleep Medicine, 1, 952–960.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohayon, M. M. and Roth, T. (2001). What are the contributing factors for insomnia in the general population? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 51, 745–755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohayon, M. M. and Smirne, S. (2002). Prevalence and consequences of insomnia disorders in the general population of Italy. Sleep Medicine, 3, 115–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohayon, M. M. and Zulley, J. (2001). Correlates of global sleep dissatisfaction in the German population. Sleep, 24, 780–787.Google ScholarPubMed
Ohayon, M. M., Roberts, R. E., Zulley, J., Palombini, L. and Rabb, H. (2000). Prevalence and patterns of problematic sleep among older adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 1549–1556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, R. E., Shema, S. J. and Kaplan, G. A. (1999). Prospective data on sleep complaints and associated risk factors in an older cohort. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 188–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silveira, E. R. and Ebrahim, S. (1998). Social determinants of psychiatric morbidity and well-being in immigrant elders and whites in east London. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 801–812.3.0.CO;2-Z>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soldatos, C., Allaert, F., Ohta, T. and Dikeos, D. G. (2005). How do individuals sleep around the world? Results from a single-day survey in ten countries. Sleep Medicine, 6, 5–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tynjala, K., Kannas, L. and Valimaa, R. (1993). How young Europeans sleep. Health and Education Research, 7, 69–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Dregan Supplementary Material

Dregan Supplementary Material

Download Dregan Supplementary Material(File)
File 74.8 KB