Sleep Quality Reports From Family Caregivers and Matched Non-caregiving Controls in a Population-Based Study

Marcela D. Blinka, Adam P. Spira, Orla C. Sheehan, Tom Cidav, J. David Rhodes, Virginia J. Howard, David L. Roth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The stress of family caregiving may affect many health-related variables, including sleep. We evaluated differences in self-reported sleep quality between incident caregivers and matched non-caregiving controls from a national population-based study. Caregivers and controls were identified in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study and matched on seven different demographic and health history factors. Caregivers reported significantly longer sleep onset latency than controls, before and after adjusting for covariates (ps <.05). No differences were found on measures of total sleep time or sleep efficiency. Among caregivers only, employed persons reported less total sleep time and number of care hours was a significant predictor of total sleep time. Dementia caregivers did not differ from other caregivers. This is one of the few population-based studies of sleep quality in family caregivers. Additional research is needed to examine whether sleep disturbance contributes to greater health problems among caregivers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1568-1575
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Applied Gerontology
Volume41
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2022

Keywords

  • family caregiving
  • population-based study
  • sleep onset latency
  • sleep quality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Gerontology

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