Predictors of sleep health among older adults during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Since the first COVID-19 case was reported in January 2020 in the United States, there have been more than 18.8 million cases and 330,000 deaths. In order to minimize the risk of potential COVID- 19 transmission, many states instituted stay at home orders and closed churches, gyms, and other places that older adults often participate in social gatherings. Little is known about sleep health among older adults during this time. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between older adult's personal factors, health behaviors, and sleep health during the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: Adults age 60 and older participated in an online anonymous survey recruited through email lists of community senior organizations and university alumni using a snowball approach. Personal factors included age (years), gender (female=0, male=1), living situation (living alone=0, living with others=1), education (≤12 years = 0, >12 years = 1), and income (75000=1), and depressive symptoms (CESD-10). Health Behaviors included moderate physical activity (0=none, 1=yes), smoking (0=no, 1=yes), drinking (number of drinks). Sleep Health was assessed using the multidimensional SATED scale (Satisfaction, Alertness, Timing, Efficiency, and Duration). Backward stepwise regression analysis was used to test if personal factors and health behaviors significantly predicted participants' sleep health. Results: Participants included 509 adults (392 Females;mean age=75.6 years;SD=5.0;range 63-93 years). The majority were white (n=466;92%) and 93% (n=471) had a college education. Seventy-four percent (n=71) participated in moderate exercise, 94% (n=478) did not smoke, and 58% (n=286) did not report drinking alcohol. Sleep Health was variable with 179 (36%) reporting poor sleep health (mean=7.4;SD=2.1). Regression results indicated that gender, years of education, living situation, income, depressive symptoms and moderate exercise explained 17% of the variance in sleep health (R2=0.169, F,6=14.4, p=0.000). Conclusion: These findings suggest that many older adults experienced poor sleep health associated with depressive symptoms and exercise participation during the initial months of the pandemic. Future studies should examine the long-term effects of the pandemic on the sleep health of older adults.