title: Greater night-to-night variability in sleep discrepancy among older adults with a sleep complaint compared to noncomplaining older adults.
abstract: Research in younger adults suggests sleep discrepancy (objective/subjective measurement difference) is a consistent pattern that primarily occurs within individuals with insomnia. To examine whether older adults exhibit a similar pattern, this study compared night-to-night inconsistency in sleep discrepancy between older adults with and without sleep complaints. Older adults (N = 103; mean age = 72.81, SD = 7.12) wore an Actiwatch-L® (24 hr per day) and concurrently completed sleep diaries for 14 days. Sleep discrepancy = diary (sleep onset latency [SOL] or wake [time] after sleep onset [WASO]) - actigraphy (SOL or WASO). Both groups exhibited sleep discrepancy, but complainers exhibited significantly more night-to-night variability. Sleep discrepancy was a variable behavior that was not limited to insomnia, but instead manifested by degree throughout our older sample. Greater attention to variability in sleep research and clinical practice is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical & Health Psychology , University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0165, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Kay
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dzierzewski
authors.forename: Meredeth
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Christina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: McCrae
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires