Does midlife aging impact women’s sleep duration, continuity, and timing?: A longitudinal analysis from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation

Abstract Our study objectives were to evaluate the age-related changes in actigraphy measures of sleep duration, continuity, and timing across 12 years in midlife women as they traversed the menopause, and to take into account factors affecting women’s sleep that also change with age. Black, white, and Chinese women were recruited from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) to participate in an ancillary sleep study on two occasions over 3 years apart and a third assessment 12 years after the first (N = 300, mean ages, 52, 55, and 64 at the three assessments). Women had at least four consecutive nights of actigraphy (95% with 7 nights) and sleep diaries, and self-reported sleep complaints measured at each time point. Partial correlations adjusted for time between assessments across the 12 years were significant and moderate in size (r’s = .33–.58). PROC MIXED/GLIMMIX multivariate models showed that sleep duration increased over time; wake after sleep onset (WASO) declined, midpoint of sleep interval increased, and sleep latency and number of sleep complaints did not change between the first and third assessments. Blacks and whites had a greater increase in sleep duration than Chinese. Taken together, the results of this longitudinal study suggest that sleep may not worsen, in general, in midlife women. Perhaps, the expected negative effect of aging in midlife into early old age on sleep is overstated.

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0693 Sleep Health Is Related To Physical Health In Midlife Women: The Study Of Women’S Health Across The Nation (swan) Sleep Study

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsy061.692 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 (suppl_1) ◽

pp. A257-A258

Author(s):

M A Bowman ◽

R C Brindle ◽

C E Kline ◽

K A Matthews ◽

G S Neal-Perry ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Health ◽

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Midlife Women ◽

Sleep Health ◽

Sleep Study

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Sleep duration and its correlates in middle-aged and elderly Chinese women: The Shanghai Women’s Health Study

Sleep Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.sleep.2012.06.014 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 1138-1145 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Xiangdong Tu ◽

Hui Cai ◽

Yu-Tang Gao ◽

Xiaoyan Wu ◽

Bu-Tian Ji ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Sleep Duration ◽

Chinese Women ◽

Health Study ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Elderly Chinese

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Sleep and risk for high blood pressure and hypertension in midlife women: the SWAN (Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation) Sleep Study

Sleep Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.sleep.2013.11.002 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 203-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Karen A. Matthews ◽

Yuefang Chang ◽

Howard M. Kravitz ◽

Joyce T. Bromberger ◽

Jane F. Owens ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

High Blood Pressure ◽

Midlife Women ◽

Sleep Study

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Urinary metals and metal mixtures and timing of natural menopause in midlife women: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation

Environment International ◽

10.1016/j.envint.2021.106781 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 157 ◽

pp. 106781

Author(s):

Xin Wang ◽

Ning Ding ◽

Siobán D. Harlow ◽

John F. Randolph ◽

Bhramar Mukherjee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Midlife Women ◽

Natural Menopause ◽

Metal Mixtures

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The association of sleep duration and quality with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the Women’s Health Initiative

Sleep Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.sleep.2018.05.015 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 50 ◽

pp. 48-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Geoffrey C. Kabat ◽

Xiaonan Xue ◽

Victor Kamensky ◽

Oleg Zaslavsky ◽

Katie L. Stone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Sleep Duration ◽

Women's Health Initiative ◽

Women’S Health Initiative ◽

Health Initiative ◽

Specific Mortality ◽

The Women’S Health Initiative

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Influence of the menopausal transition on polysomnographic sleep characteristics: A longitudinal analysis

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsab139 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Karen A Matthews ◽

Laize Lee ◽

Howard M Kravitz ◽

Hadine Joffe ◽

Genevieve Neal-Perry ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sleep Duration ◽

Menopausal Status ◽

Hot Flashes ◽

Sleep Onset ◽

Menopausal Transition ◽

Apnea Hypopnea Index ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Sleep Study ◽

Beta Power ◽

Eeg Power

Abstract Study Objectives To evaluate how change in menopausal status related to spectral analysis and polysomnographic measures of sleep characteristics. Methods The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Ancillary Sleep Study evaluated sleep characteristics of 159 women who were initially pre- or early perimenopausal and repeated the assessment about 3 ½ years later when 38 were pre- or early perimenopausal, 31 late perimenopausal, and 90 postmenopausal. Participants underwent in-home ambulatory polysomnography for 2 to 3 nights. Average EEG power in the delta and beta frequency bands was calculated during NREM and REM sleep, and sleep duration, wake after sleep onset (WASO), and apnea hypopnea index (AHI) were based on visually-scored sleep. Results The women who transitioned to postmenopause had increased beta NREM EEG power at the second assessment, compared to women who remained pre-or early premenopausal; no other sleep measures varied by change in menopausal status. In multivariate models the associations remained; statistical controls for self-reported hot flashes did not explain findings. In secondary analysis, NREM beta power at the second assessment was greater among women who transitioned into the postmenopause after adjustments for initial NREM beta power. Conclusions Sleep duration and WASO did not vary by menopause transition group across assessments. Consistent with prior cross-sectional analysis, elevated beta EEG power in NREM sleep was apparent among women who transitioned to postmenopause, suggesting that independent of self-reported hot flashes, the menopausal transition is associated with physiological hyperarousal during sleep.

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Consecutive Days of Racing Does Not Affect Sleep in Professional Road Cyclists

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance ◽

10.1123/ijspp.2021-0102 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-4

Author(s):

Charli Sargent ◽

Shona L. Halson ◽

David T. Martin ◽

Gregory D. Roach

Keyword(s):

Sleep Duration ◽

Sleep Onset ◽

Self Report ◽

Activity Monitors ◽

Sleep Diaries ◽

Time In Bed ◽

Road Cycling ◽

Offset Time ◽

The Impact

Purpose: Professional road cycling races are physiologically demanding, involving successive days of racing over 1 to 3 weeks of competition. Anecdotal evidence indicates that cyclists’ sleep duration either increases or deteriorates during these competitions. However, sleep duration in professional cyclists during stage races has not been assessed. This study examined the amount/quality of sleep obtained by 14 professional cyclists competing in the Australian Tour Down Under. Methods: Sleep was assessed using wrist activity monitors and self-report sleep diaries on the night prior to start of the race and on each night during the race. The impact of each day of the race on sleep onset, sleep offset, time in bed, sleep duration, and wake duration was assessed using separate linear mixed effects models. Results: During the race, cyclists obtained an average of 6.8 (0.9) hours of sleep between 23:30 and 07:27 hours and spent 13.9% (4.7%) of time in bed awake. Minor differences in sleep onset (P = .023) and offset times (P ≤.001) were observed during the week of racing, but these did not affect the amount of sleep obtained by cyclists. Interestingly, the 3 best finishers in the general classification obtained more sleep than the 3 worst finishers (7.2 [0.3] vs 6.7 [0.3] h; P = .049). Conclusions: Contrary to anecdotal reports, the amount of sleep obtained by cyclists did not change over the course of the 1-week race and was just below the recommended target of 7 to 9 hours for adults.

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Abstract P196: Insomnia Symptoms And Ideal Cardiovascular Health In Older Women: Data From The Women’S Health Study

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.143.suppl_1.p196 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 143 (Suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Cameron Hicks ◽

Jonathan Butler ◽

Natalie B Slopen ◽

David Williams ◽

Dayna A Johnson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Older Women ◽

Sleep Duration ◽

Cardiovascular Health ◽

Health Study ◽

Lower Odds ◽

Ideal Cardiovascular Health ◽

The Relationship ◽

Insomnia Symptoms

Introduction: While insomnia is associated with an increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), its relationship with ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) is less certain. Given that sleep disturbances increase with age, we examined the relationship between insomnia symptoms and ICH in older women. Methods: Among women participating in the ongoing Women’s Health Study stress cohort with no apparent history of CVD [N= 2588; Mean age= 72.5 ± 6.3], insomnia symptoms were characterized as self-reported difficulty falling asleep or waking up multiple times a night, three or more times per week. Ideal cardiovascular health, as defined by the American Heart Association’s 2020 Impact goals, included standard optimal targets for blood pressure, total cholesterol, glucose, body mass index, physical activity, diet, and smoking. We examined the relationship between insomnia symptoms and ICH using logistic regression, adjusting for clinical and demographic variables. Results: Of the 26588 participants, 52% reported insomnia symptoms, and 38% had ICH. Women with insomnia symptoms had significantly lower odds of ICH after full adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, education, income, depression/anxiety, marital status, and sleep duration (OR [95% CI]: 0.73 [0.64-0.83]). Moreover, compared to women without insomnia symptoms, those with insomnia symptoms were significantly more likely to have hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, depression, anxiety, currently smoke, drink one or more alcoholic beverages per day, have a BMI >30, or exercise less frequently. Conclusion: In older women, insomnia symptoms were significantly associated with lower odds of ideal cardiovascular health even after adjusting for socioeconomic status, psychosocial factors, and sleep duration. These results suggest insomnia screening may be an important component of cardiovascular health promotion in this patient population. Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of sleep behavioral interventions on improving ICH.

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