title: Age and gender variations of sleep in subjects without sleep disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although sleep is a biomarker for general health and pathological conditions, its changes across age and gender are poorly understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjective evaluation of sleep was assessed by questionnaires in 5,064 subjects, and 2,966 were considered without sleep disorders. Objective evaluation was performed by polysomnography in 2,160 subjects, and 1,147 were considered without sleep disorders. Only subjects without sleep disorders were included (aged 40-80 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Aging was strongly associated with morning preference. Older subjects, especially women, complained less about sleepiness, and pathological sleepiness was significantly lower than in younger subjects. Self-reported sleep quality and daytime functioning improved with aging. Sleep latency increased with age in women, while sleep efficiency decreased with age in both genders. Deep slow-wave sleep decreased with age, but men were more affected. Spectral power densities within slow waves (< 5 Hz) and fast spindles (14-14.75 Hz) decreased, while theta-alpha (5-1 Hz) and beta (16.75-25 Hz) power in non-rapid eye movement sleep increased with aging. In REM sleep, aging was associated with a progressive decrease in delta (1.25-4.5 Hz) and increase in higher frequencies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that sleep complaints should not be viewed as part of normal aging but should prompt the identification of underlying causes.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Integrative Genomics (CIG), University of Lausanne , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gianina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Luca
authors.affiliation: b Center for Investigation and Research in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haba Rubio
authors.affiliation: b Center for Investigation and Research in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Andries
authors.affiliation: b Center for Investigation and Research in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tobback
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medicine , Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vollenweider
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medicine , Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waeber
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medicine , Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marques Vidal
authors.affiliation: d Department of Psychiatry , Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Preisig
authors.affiliation: b Center for Investigation and Research in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heinzer
authors.affiliation: a Center for Integrative Genomics (CIG), University of Lausanne , Lausanne , Switzerland.|b Center for Investigation and Research in Sleep (CIRS), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) , Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tafti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000295:instrumentation; D012737:Sex Factors; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Chronotype; EEG; HypnoLaus; PSQI; power density; sleep quality