title: Association between insomnia symptoms and weight change in older women: caregiver--study of osteoporotic fractures study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether self-reported insomnia symptoms were associated with weight change in older women and whether caregiving, comorbidities, sleep medication, or stress modified this association.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-year prospective study conducted in four communities from 1999 to 2003 nested within a larger cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Home-based interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine hundred eighty-eight participants (354 caregivers and 634 noncaregivers) from the Caregiver--Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reported insomnia symptoms in the previous month: trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, and waking early and having trouble getting back to sleep. Weight was measured at baseline and 12 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average weight change was -1.9 ± 7.8 pounds. Trouble staying asleep was significantly associated with an average weight loss of 1.3 pounds (P = .03) in multivariable analyses. Neither of the other insomnia symptoms was associated with weight change. Use of sleep medications modified the association between trouble falling asleep (interaction term P = .03) and weight change. Insomnia symptoms were associated with weight loss only in women not taking sleep medications. Neither caregiving status, presence of multiple comorbidities, nor stress modified the association.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trouble staying asleep was associated with weight loss over 12 months in older women. Practitioners should inquire about sleep habits of patients presenting with weight loss, because this may identify a marker of declining health and may be a factor that can be modified.
authors: Epidemiology Department, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors: Craig
authors: C
authors: Ross
authors: Sonia
authors: S
authors: Ancoli-Israel
authors: Susan
authors: S
authors: Redline
authors: Katie
authors: K
authors: Stone
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: Fredman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011446:Prospective Studies; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives