SLEEP COMPLAINTS IN OLDER ADULTS - A RACIAL COMPARISON

Background. Sleep complaints have been reported in epidemiologic studi es to be more frequent in late life, among females, among the physical ly impaired, and among persons experiencing psychiatric disorders. To date, however, no studies have reported a racial difference in sleep c omplaints among older persons in the United States. Method. The Duke E PESE (Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly ) assessed 3,976 community-dwelling elders age 65+ for sleep complaint s and relevant control variables. Results. In bivariate analyses, slee p complaints were associated with female gender. White race, older age , cognitive impairment, lower education, presence of chronic health co nditions, poor self-rated health, and higher scores on a self-rated de pression scale (the CES-D). In logistic regression analysis, the assoc iation of White race and more sleep complaints persisted (p <.001) whe n the above variables were simultaneously controlled. Conclusions. Few er reported sleep complaints in community-dwelling Black elders compar ed to White elders remains unexplained, though it may be secondary to a higher threshold for Black elders reporting complaints.