Association of sleep quality and daytime sleepiness with cognition in the elderly

Introduction: The association between sleep problems and cognitive dysfunction is not reported in Turkey. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between sleep quality and daytime sleepiness with cognitive functioning and to identify factors that influence cognitive state in the elderly. Materials and Method: Using a simple random sampling method, 500 individuals, aged ?60 years, living in the city of Sivas were recruited into our study. Standardized mini mental test, Pittsburgh Sleeping Quality Index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale tests were used to evaluate overall cognition, sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness, respectively. Results: Lower cognitive functions were found to be significantly associated with age, female gender, living alone, low level of education and socioeconomic status. Impaired cognition was found in 53.8% of individuals with sleep quality disorder and 63.7% of individuals with daytime sleepiness (p < 0.05). According to logistic regression analysis, the risk of cognitive dysfunction in participants with a sleep quality disorder and daytime sleepiness were 4.17 and 3.48 times higher compared to individuals without the disorder respectively. Conclusion: Sleep quality disorders were found to be prevalent in the elderly. A close relationship was found between cognitive dysfunction with poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. © 2015, Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved.