How Elderly People’s Quality of Life Relates to Their Sleep Quality and Sleep-Related Beliefs

ABSTRACT

Objective/Background

Quality of life (QoL) is a broad multidimensional construct, which can be influenced by several factors across the lifespan, including sleep quality. The aim of this study was to examine the association between QoL (and its specific domains), objective and self-reported sleep quality, and subjective sleep-related factors (i.e., dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep, and metacognitive beliefs about sleeping difficulties) in healthy elderly people.

Participants

Fifty healthy older adults (mean age = 70.40 years, SD = 7.43) participated in the study.

Methods

QoL was assessed using the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life Assessment, BREF version (WHOQOL-BREF). Self-reported sleep quality and efficiency were measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and sleep diary. Dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep (DBAS), and metacognitive beliefs about sleeping difficulties (MCQ-I) (subjective sleep-related factors) were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Objective sleep quality and efficiency were measured using actigraphy over 7 days.

Results

Regression analyses showed that self-reported sleep efficiency and dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep explained 24% of the variance in global QoL. Dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep were the only significant predictor of QoL in the environmental domain.

Conclusions

Taken together, these findings underscore the influence of sleep-related factors, and particularly dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep, along with sleep efficiency, on the perception of QoL in healthy older adults. These factors need to be considered in efforts to sustain QoL, in late adulthood at least.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ A multiple regression model was run on participants’ QoL, and its four domains, with sex as a predictor: it showed that sex was not a significant predictor of the scores for either overall QoL (B= .018, CI=−4.713;5.305, p=.906), or its physical health (B=−.011, CI=−1.521; 1.424, p=.947), psychological health (B=−.134, CI=−1.807; 0.757, p=.413), social relationships (B=−.054, CI=−1.629;1.173, p=.744), and environmental (B=.050, CI=−1.756; 2.458, p=.738) domains.

² Since no significant correlations were found between the objective sleep indices and QoL (overall or its specific domains), the objective sleep parameters were not included in the regression analyses.