Age and sleep disturbances among American men and women: data from the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Study Objective: Explore the prevalence of sleep-related complaints across age groups, examining effects of sex, general health, and depressed mood.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Setting: Epidemiologic.

Melatonin pharmacokinetics following two different oral surge-sustained release doses in older adults.

Melatonin is increasingly used for the treatment of sleep disorders. Surge-sustained formulations consisting of combined immediate release and controlled release dosing may mimic the endogenous melatonin physiologic profile. However, relatively little is known about the pharmacokinetic properties of low-dose (<0.

State and regional prevalence of sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue.

Study Objectives: Social and demographic influences are important for sleep attainment. Geographic location has not been previously explored.

Methods: Data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used (N = 157,319).

Sleep disturbance is associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.

Existing research has demonstrated associations between sleep duration and obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mortality. Sleep disorders research has shown that sleep apnoea, insomnia and other sleep disorders confer risk for cardiometabolic disease, particularly in the presence of reduced sleep duration. The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between general sleep disturbance, operationalized as 'difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much' as measured in a large, nationally representative sample, and self-reported history of myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary artery disease, diabetes and obesity.

"Sleep disparity" in the population: poor sleep quality is strongly associated with poverty and ethnicity.

Background: Little is known about the social determinants of sleep attainment. This study examines the relationship of race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES) and other factors upon sleep quality.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 9,714 randomly selected subjects was used to explore sleep quality obtained by self-report, in relation to socioeconomic factors including poverty, employment status, and education level.

Who gets the best sleep? Ethnic and socioeconomic factors related to sleep complaints.

Objectives: Lower socioeconomic status is associated with short or long sleep duration and sleep disturbance (e.g., sleep apnea), which are all related to increased mortality risk.

Relationships among dietary nutrients and subjective sleep, objective sleep, and napping in women.

Objective: To describe which dietary nutrient variables are related to subjective and objective habitual sleep and subjective and objective napping.

Methods: Participants were 459 post-menopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative. Objective sleep was estimated using one week of actigraphy.

Mortality associated with short sleep duration: The evidence, the possible mechanisms, and the future.

This review of the scientific literature examines the widely observed relationship between sleep duration and mortality. As early as 1964, data have shown that 7-h sleepers experience the lowest risks for all-cause mortality, whereas those at the shortest and longest sleep durations have significantly higher mortality risks. Numerous follow-up studies from around the world (e.

Problems associated with short sleep: bridging the gap between laboratory and epidemiological studies.

Existing data from laboratory studies suggest a number of negative consequences of acute reductions in sleep time. Also, epidemiological data suggest links between shorter self-reported sleep duration and negative health outcomes. These bodies of work are growing, revealing several key points of convergence and opportunities for future exploration.

Who are the long sleepers? Towards an understanding of the mortality relationship.

While much is known about the negative health implications of insufficient sleep, relatively little is known about risks associated with excessive sleep. However, epidemiological studies have repeatedly found a mortality risk associated with reported habitual long sleep. This paper will summarize and describe the numerous studies demonstrating increased mortality risk associated with long sleep.

Criterion validity of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: Investigation in a non-clinical sample.

The objective of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in a non-clinical sample consisting of younger and older adults. There has been little research validating the PSQI with respect to multinight recording as with actigraphy, and more validation is needed in samples not specifically selected for clinical disturbance. Also, the degree to which the PSQI scores may reflect depressive symptoms versus actual sleep disturbance remains unclear.

Light exposure is related to social and emotional functioning and to quality of life in older women.

While there are data supporting the use of light in clinical populations, there has been less investigation of relationships among light and psychological variables in non-clinical samples. Subjects were 459 ethnically diverse women (mean age 67.68) recruited as part of the Women's Health Initiative.

Bright green light treatment of depression for older adults [ISRCTN69400161].

Background: Bright white light has been successfully used for the treatment of depression. There is interest in identifying which spectral colors of light are the most efficient in the treatment of depression. It is theorized that green light could decrease the intensity duration of exposure needed.

Bright light treatment of depression for older adults [ISRCTN55452501].

Background: The incidence of insomnia and depression in the elder population is significant. It is hoped that use of light treatment for this group could provide safe, economic, and effective rapid recovery.

Methods: In this home-based trial we treated depressed elderly subjects with bright white (8,500 Lux) and dim red (<10 Lux) light for one hour a day at three different times (morning, mid-wake and evening).

Meteorologic factors and subjective sleep continuity: a preliminary evaluation.

Little research has been undertaken to evaluate whether environmental factors other than bright light influence the individual's ability to initiate and maintain sleep. In the present analyses, nine meteorologic variables were evaluated for their possible relationship to self-reported sleep continuity in a sample of 43 subjects over a period of 105 days. In this preliminary analysis, high barometric pressure, low precipitation, and lower temperatures were significantly correlated with good sleep continuity.

Self-reported sleep complaints with long and short sleep: a nationally representative sample.

Objective: Although the problems associated with insufficient sleep have been thoroughly researched, there has been far less substantiation of problems associated with long sleep. Recent evidence shows that habitual sleep duration greater than 7 hours is associated with increased rates of mortality. This study compared the rates of sleep problems in both long and short sleepers.