Yonsei Med J.  2017 Nov;58(6):1222-1228. 10.3349/ymj.2017.58.6.1222.

Association between Sleep Duration and Injury from Falling among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Korean Community Health Survey Data

• Noh JW
• Kim KB
• Lee JH
• Lee Y
• Lee BH
• Kwon YD

• KMID: 2418906
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2017.58.6.1222

Abstract

PURPOSE
While sleeping problems increase with advancing age, there are inherent differences in sleep between males and females. Previous studies have shown inconsistent results of the relationship between sleep duration and risk of injury from falling. While controlling various sociodemographic and health-related factors, national representative data were used in order to analyze the association between sleep duration and injury from falling among older adults.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The data were obtained from the Korean Community Health Survey of 2011. A total of 55654 individuals aged 65 years and older participated in the study. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors associated with injury from falling.
RESULTS
After adjusting for covariates, such as age, sex, marital status, whether or not an individual is a recipient of benefits from the National Basic Livelihood Act, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, stress level, and self-rated health status, those who slept five hours or less per day [odds ratio (OR)=1.26; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.18-1.34; p<0.001] or eight hours or more per day (OR=1.11; 95% CI=1.04-1.17; p=0.001) presented significantly higher ORs for injury from falling. A similar result was found when we conducted stratification by sex.
CONCLUSION
The current study supports that there is a relationship between short sleep duration and injury from falling and also identified a marginal risk of long sleep in older adults. Therefore, sleep management in older adults with inadequate sleep duration may be necessary.

Keyword

Accidental falls; aged; gender; Korea; sleep

MeSH Terms

Accidental Falls/*statistics & numerical data
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
*Health Status
Health Surveys
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Public Health
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Sleep/*physiology
Sleep Deprivation/*complications
Surveys and Questionnaires
Time Factors

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