Psychosocial correlates of aspects of sleep quality in community-dwelling Irish older adults

Objectives: While it is known that psychosocial factors affect overall sleep quality, there is little consensus on the factors that affect different aspects of sleep. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) provides a means of examining these separate aspects of sleep. Method: This study investigated whether the different components of the PSQI are affected by different psychosocial factors, or whether all aspects of sleep are associated with the same factors. 505 community-dwelling older adults took part in this study. Psychosocial status, comprising of measures of depression, anxiety, perceived stress, social and emotional loneliness and personality, was assessed for each participant. Health-related factors (pain, comorbidities, polypharmacy) as well as age and gender were also measured. Results: Neuroticism, depression, anxiety and age accounted for overall sleep quality. Further analyses revealed that different psychosocial and health-related factors such as pain, loneliness and personality accounted for scores in the different components. Conclusion: Interventions for poor sleep quality may depend on the aspect of sleep affected in the individual, and treatment may be contingent on a number of different psychosocial variables. Future research could focus on developing personalised treatment programs for older adults with sleep complaints.