Abstract
Purpose: :
Sleep problems, such as poor sleep, daytime sleepiness and difficulties to initiate and maintain sleep, were more common in individuals with visual impairment. We evaluated the relationship between the presence of glaucoma and self-reported sleep problems among participants in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF).
Methods: :
In a random sample of 1,274 (out of 5,482) women (1,123 white and 151 black) aged 65 and older, 105 (8.5%) women were diagnosed with glaucoma in at least one eye by glaucoma specialists using optic nerve head photographs and 76-point suprathreshold screening visual fields. Sleep problems were assessed using questions regarding hours of sleep at each night, taking regular naps, taking daily naps, and difficulties in initiating and maintaining sleep. In this cross-sectional analysis, we investigated the relationships between the presence of glaucoma and sleep problems using Chi-square tests and T-tests. The associations were also analyzed using linear regression models and logistic regression models, after adjusting for potential confounders including study site, age, race, smoking status, education, body mass index (BMI), walking for exercise, self-rated health status, and cognitive function.
Results: :
Women with glaucoma had slightly longer sleep hours per night than women without glaucoma (7.4±1.4 hours vs. 7.1±1.3 hours, T-test p=0.042). The presence of glaucoma was not associated with other sleep problems in the unadjusted and adjusted models, including taking regular naps (odds ratio [OR]=0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.55-1.37), taking daily naps (OR=1.08, 95% CI=0.56-2.08), and difficulties in initiating and maintaining sleep (OR=1.13, 95% CI=0.73-1.77).
Conclusions: :
Older women with glaucoma reported more sleep at night than older women without glaucoma. Further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between glaucoma and sleep problems.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: natural history