Abstract
BackgroundAn increasing awareness exists that lack of activity engagement is associated with insomnia symptoms. However, the majority of studies have focused on the association between a single type of activity engagement and insomnia symptoms.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the Health and Retirement Study examining the relationships among different types of activity engagement and insomnia symptoms among older adults. The sample for this study included 3321 older adults who responded to survey modules on activity engagement and insomnia symptoms in 2016. Activity engagement was measured using items for three types of activities (i.e., social, cognitive, and physical) validated in this study. Insomnia symptoms were measured using four items (i.e., difficulty of falling asleep, waking up during the night, waking up too early, and feeling rested). Independent t-tests were conducted to identify the differences in insomnia symptoms according to activity engagement level. Regressions were conducted to examine the associations among three types of activity engagement and insomnia symptoms after adjusting for covariates such as demographics, chronic disease, activities of daily living difficulty, cognitive function, sleep disorder, loneliness, and caregiving.ResultsThe respondents in the high-level social, cognitive, and physical activity engagement groups were found to show fewer insomnia symptoms. Furthermore, higher social (β = − 0.04, p = 0.040) and cognitive (β = − 0.06, p = 0.007) activity engagements were associated with fewer insomnia symptoms even after adjusting for other types of activity engagement and all covariates.ConclusionsThis study suggests that older adults with higher social and cognitive activity engagements may be likely to have fewer insomnia symptoms. Based on these results, future research is needed to develop multi-component intervention programs that can encourage older adults to engage in these activities.
Highlights
An increasing awareness exists that lack of activity engagement is associated with insomnia symptoms
The results of this study suggested that older adults reporting higher social, cognitive, and physical activity engagements had fewer insomnia symptoms compared to people with lower activity engagement
The data of this study indicate that lower physical activity engagement is associated with nonrestorative sleep among subtypes of insomnia symptoms
Summary
An increasing awareness exists that lack of activity engagement is associated with insomnia symptoms. The majority of studies have focused on the association between a single type of activity engagement and insomnia symptoms. Insomnia symptoms are recognized as a significant symptom in older adults. Insomnia symptoms are defined as complaints of disturbed sleep including difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early morning awakening, and nonrestorative or poor-quality sleep [1]. Insomnia symptoms are associated with adverse outcomes such as frailty and poor physical and mental health quality of life [3, 4]. People with insomnia symptoms are more prone to cardiovascular disease, neurologic disease, and pain [5]. Fully understanding the factors that influence insomnia symptoms among older adults is imperative
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