PRINCIPAL LIFETIME OCCUPATION AND SLEEP QUALITY IN THE ELDERLY

Sleep symptoms, cognitive, psychic, and physical health variables were assessed in a sample of 449 community-dwelling elders aged 75 and ove r. The subjects were in a good cognitive and functional condition. Thr ee night sleep symptoms were evaluated: difficulty falling asleep, wak ing up frequently in the night, and early morning awakenings. For each symptom, respondents were asked to estimate the frequency of the symp tom during the past month on a five-point scale. White-collar workers reported the best, and blue-collar workers the poorest quality of slee p: the difference in the difficulty of falling asleep between the two groups was 0.86, of waking up frequently in the night 0.93, of early m orning awakenings 1.01 (corresponding to 3 days/month, 5 days/month, a nd 3.5 days/month, respectively), and of total sleep symptoms 2.81. Th ese unadjusted differences were reduced, respectively, to 0.57, 0.42, 0.54, and 1.53 after adjustment for other factors. Of these, only waki ng up frequently in the night was not statistically significant. These data show more frequent sleep symptoms in socially disadvantaged occu pational groups, suggesting that social factors can significantly affe ct the quality of sleep in the elderly.