Gender role in sleep disturbances among older adults with traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Older adults are particularly vulnerable to poor long-term outcomes, and the rate of TBI in this group is increasing. Studies have shown females experience worse outcomes from TBI than males, however this research has been limited. The aim of this study is to examine gender effects on the frequency of sleep disturbances in older adults post-TBI. An analysis was conducted on data obtained from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) Uniform Data Set. A total of 405 patients greater than 60 years of age were examined. Sleep disturbances were measured using the Nighttime Behavioural Disturbances domain of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory–Questionnaire (NPI-Q). A significant difference (p = 0.025) in reported sleep disturbance was identified in the female TBI population relative to the female non-TBI population. In the male non-TBI group, 14.8% (n = 12) experienced nighttime disturbances while 19.8% (n = 17) of those with TBI experienced nighttime disturbances. This difference was not significant (p = 0.305). These results suggest there is a greater impact from traumatic brain injury on sleep disturbances in older females than males. Further research examining gender differences in older adults related to neuropsychiatric outcomes of TBI should be considered given the implications for treatment.

Keywords:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• gender
• older adult
• sleep disturbance

Acknowledgements

NACC Dataset Statement

NACC data are contributed by the NIA-funded ADCs: P30 AG019610 (PI Eric Reiman, MD), P30 AG013846 (PI Neil Kowall, MD), P50 AG008702 (PI Scott Small, MD), P50 AG025688 (PI Allan Levey, MD, PhD), P50 AG047266 (PI Todd Golde, MD, PhD), P30 AG010133 (PI Andrew Saykin, PsyD), P50 AG005146 (PI Marilyn Albert, PhD), P50 AG005134 (PI Bradley Hyman, MD, PhD), P50 AG016574 (PI Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD), P50 AG005138 (PI Mary Sano, PhD), P30 AG008051 (PI Thomas Wisniewski, MD), P30 AG013854 (PI M. Marsel Mesulam, MD), P30 AG008017 (PI Jeffrey Kaye, MD), P30 AG010161 (PI David Bennett, MD), P50 AG047366 (PI Victor Henderson, MD, MS), P30 AG010129 (PI Charles DeCarli, MD), P50 AG016573 (PI Frank LaFerla, PhD), P50 AG005131 (PI James Brewer, MD, PhD), P50 AG023501 (PI Bruce Miller, MD), P30 AG035982 (PI Russell Swerdlow, MD), P30 AG028383 (PI Linda Van Eldik, PhD), P30 AG053760 (PI Henry Paulson, MD, PhD), P30 AG010124 (PI John Trojanowski, MD, PhD), P50 AG005133 (PI Oscar Lopez, MD), P50 AG005142 (PI Helena Chui, MD), P30 AG012300 (PI Roger Rosenberg, MD), P30 AG049638 (PI Suzanne Craft, PhD), P50 AG005136 (PI Thomas Grabowski, MD), P50 AG033514 (PI Sanjay Asthana, MD, FRCP), P50 AG005681 (PI John Morris, MD), P50 AG047270 (PI Stephen Strittmatter, MD, PhD).

Disclosure of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.