Abstract
BackgroundImpaired sleep is common in menopausal women. The aim was to examine associations between uses of systemic menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and sleep disturbance in a large population sample.MethodsFemale participants aged 45 to 75 years were selected from the Norwegian Health Study in Nord-Trøndelag (HUNT3, 2006–2008) (N = 13,060). Data were linked to the Norwegian Prescription Database, identifying use of prescribed MHT and use of sleep medication. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression.ResultsIn total, 996 women used systemic MHT (7.6%), with the highest prevalence of 10.3% among women 55 to 64 years of age. Despite high reports of frequent nocturnal awakening (24.7%) and high reports of hot flashes, use of MHT was low in this large population based survey. Although MHT use was associated with more sleep disturbance in unadjusted analyses, the association was not significant after adjusting for relevant covariates. Using sleep medication, reporting poor health, tobacco and alcohol use, doing daily exercise, having higher levels of anxiety, and being less satisfied with life were factors showing the strongest associations with sleep disturbance.ConclusionThe lack of association between MHT and sleep disturbance suggests that other factors, such as self-perceived good health, a healthy lifestyle and anxiety/depression, are more relevant to sleep than MHT.
Highlights
IntroductionThe aim was to examine associations between uses of systemic menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and sleep disturbance in a large population sample
Impaired sleep is common in menopausal women
In the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), Kravitz and colleagues [2] followed a multiethnic sample of 12,603 women for 10 years prospectively, and difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep, or early morning awakening were reported over the course of seven annual assessments
Summary
The aim was to examine associations between uses of systemic menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and sleep disturbance in a large population sample. Good sleep is a key factor for the maintenance of quality of life and sleep disturbance has been recognized as an important public health concern [1]. Sleep quality changes throughout life, influenced by various factors such as biology, hormones, lifestyle, and age. Impaired sleep quality is reported in postmenopausal women [4, 5], related to physiological changes during late adulthood and old age. Polo-Kantola (2011) reported that among women aged 50 to 64 years, 25% had sleep problems, and 15% of these had severe sleep disturbances that substantially affected their quality of life [6]
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