Gender-specific association between self-reported sleep duration and falls in high-functioning older adults.

BACKGROUND Prior studies have shown that sleep disturbances are related to falling and its risk factors, such as poorer cognition, depression, and physical function. However, little is know about the gender-specific associations between falling and sleep duration. METHODS Study participants were from the annual Health Examination for the Elderly Program in the National Taiwan University Hospital (135 women and 121 men, mean age 72.2 years). Self-reported sleep duration was grouped into three categories: less than 5, 5-7.9, and 8 or more hours. Short sleep duration was defined as sleep duration less than 5 hours. Falling during the previous 12 months was ascertained by self-report questionnaire. The association of sleep duration with falling was examined by using multiple logistic regression. We approximated risk ratio (RR) of falls from the adjusted odds ratio (OR) after correction of falls incidence in the previous year. RESULTS Sleep duration was inversely associated with falling among women. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors including use of antihypertensives and psychotropic medications, the OR of falls for each hour decrease in sleep duration was 1.95 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-3.06). Moreover, women with sleep deprivation had a greater odds of falls within the last year than those with longer sleep durations. The estimated RR of falls comparing women with short sleep duration (sleep <5 hours) with those without was 2.98 (95% CI 1.32-4.62). We did not find an association among men. CONCLUSION Sleep deprivation is independently associated with falls in women but not in men. Short sleep duration may be an indicator to identify women at risk for falling.