Real-world association of self-reported sleep duration and quality with falls among older adults: A representative nationwide study of China.

Introduction: Falls are the leading cause of injury-related morbidity and mortality among older adults (aged ≥65 years) worldwide. However, previous studies examining sleep and falls were confined to community subpopulations, and few studies included both sleep quality and sleep duration when discussing risk factors of falls. This nationwide representative study aimed to examine the links between sleep duration, sleep quality and falls among Chinese community-dwelling older adults.

Method: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted with 14,681 older individuals (aged ≥65 years) from 23 Chinese provinces from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy and Longevity Study (CLHLS) in 2018. Individual variables, including sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, and behavioral factors, were measured using a self-reported questionnaire. Falls were confirmed through face-to-face interviews. Three multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to assess the association between sleep duration and sleep quality with falls.

Results: There were 21.7% (95%CI: 21.0-22.4%) participants who had experienced falls in the past year. After controlling demographic and individual variables, falls in older adults were associated with self-reported sleep quality and self-reported sleep duration. Those who reported poor sleep quality were more likely to fall (OR = 1.149; 95%CI = 1.004,1.316). Participants who reported sleep duration that was too short (<5) (OR = 1.349; 95% CI = 1.191 to 1.528) or too long (>8) (OR = 1.267; 95% CI = 1.151 to 1.394) were both associated with higher fall prevalence.

Conclusion: Nearly one-fifth of older adults in this study had experienced falls in the past year. The study found that falls were significantly associated with less sleep duration, longer sleep duration, and overall poor sleep quality among the old Chinese population.