Poor Sleep and Risk of Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

Concerns about sleep problems and falls in older adults are significant. This article reviews the association between sleep problems and falls in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older. Multiple databases were searched from inception until 2015 using sleep, sleep disorders, and falls as keywords, limiting to studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals. After screening and assessing for eligibility, 18 articles were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Findings of an association between sleep problems and risk of falls are conflicting, but some specific sleep problems such as extremely short sleep duration, daytime sleepiness and naps appear to be significantly related to falls in older adults. Methodological limitations including variability in covariates included in the analyses and measurement of the exposure and outcome variables were identified. The results of this review identified the need to have comparable definitions, validated tools, and rigorous design of future studies.

The Association between Sleep Problems, Sleep Medication Use, and Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Results from the Health and Retirement Study 2010.

Background. Very few studies have assessed the impact of poor sleep and sleep medication use on the risk of falls among community-dwelling older adults. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between sleep problems, sleep medication use, and falls in community-dwelling older adults. Methods. The study population comprised a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized older adults participating in the 2010 Health and Retirement Study. Proportion of adults reporting sleep problems, sleep medication use, and fall was calculated. Multiple logistic regression models were constructed to examine the impact of sleep problems and sleep medication use on the risk of falls after controlling for covariates. Results. Among 9,843 community-dwelling older adults, 35.8% had reported a fall and 40.8% had reported sleep problems in the past two years. Sleep medication use was reported by 20.9% of the participants. Older adults who do have sleep problems and take sleep medications had a significant high risk of falls, compared to older adults who do not have sleep problems and do not take sleep medications. The other two groups also had significantly greater risk for falls. Conclusion. Sleep problems added to sleep medication use increase the risk of falls. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these observed findings.

The Effect of Sleep Medication Use and Poor Sleep Quality on Risk of Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults in the US: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Sleep complaints and the consumption of medications for sleep are common in older adults. Falls are also a significant concern for older adults and sedative use has been identified as a risk factor for falls. Sleep quality is a potential confounder in studies evaluating the relationship between sleep medication use and falls. However, very few studies have assessed the combined impact of sleep medication use and sleep quality on the risk of falls. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between sleep medication use, poor sleep quality, and falls in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: This was a multicenter, 6-month prospective cohort study conducted in senior housings settings in central Virginia, USA. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a medication review was conducted. Data regarding falls were collected over 6 months by use of a diary. Logistic regression modeling was used to examine the effects of poor sleep quality, sleep medication use, and both, on the risk of falls. RESULTS: Among 113 independently living older adults (mean age ± standard deviation 81.1 ± 8.6), 46.9 % fell at least once during a 6-month period; 62.8 % (n = 71) had poor sleep quality, and 44.2 % (n = 50) used medications or treatments to aid sleep. Compared with participants reporting good sleep quality and no sleep medication use, those who reported poor sleep quality and sleep medication use had an increased risk of falls after adjusting for covariates (odds ratio 3.23, 95 % confidence interval 1.05-9.91). The group with good sleep quality and sleep medication use, as well as the group with poor sleep quality and no sleep medication use had no significantly greater risk for falls compared with the group with good sleep quality and no sleep medication use. CONCLUSION: A combined effect of sleep quality and sleep medication use on the risk of falls suggests that medication effectiveness may be an important factor to consider in understanding the risk of falls associated with sedative medications.