Table 1.
Characteristics of community-dwelling older adults by reported sleep problems and sleep medication use and falls in the US, 2010.
| Variable | Total N (%) | Fallersa | Nonfallers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep problemsb, % | Sleep medication usec, % | Sleep problems, % | Sleep medication use, % | ||||||
| Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | ||
| Total | 9843 | 1698 | 1849 | 888 | 2659 | 2362 | 3934 | 1140 | 5156 |
|
| |||||||||
| Age (years)† | |||||||||
| 65–74 | 5112 (55.5) | 47.8 | 51.1 | 47.5 | 50.2 | 55.8 | 60.7 | 56.4 | 59.4 |
| 75–84 | 3505 (32.3) | 36.5 | 33.5 | 36.7 | 34.3 | 33.1 | 29.5 | 32.5 | 30.5 |
| >85 | 1226 (12.2) | 15.7 | 15.4 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 11.1 | 9.8 | 11.1 | 10.1 |
|
| |||||||||
| Sex∗ | |||||||||
| Male | 4195 (43.7) | 38.3 | 42.7 | 30.9 | 43.9 | 42.9 | 46.9 | 35.8 | 47.6 |
| Female | 5648 (56.3) | 61.7 | 57.3 | 69.1 | 56.1 | 57.1 | 53.1 | 64.2 | 52.4 |
|
| |||||||||
| Race† | |||||||||
| Caucasian | 8207 (89.9) | 91.8 | 91.7 | 94.8 | 90.8 | 89.9 | 88.2 | 94.1 | 87.6 |
| Others | 1636 (10.1) | 8.2 | 8.3 | 5.2 | 9.2 | 10.1 | 11.8 | 5.9 | 12.4 |
|
| |||||||||
| Marital status† | |||||||||
| Married | 5594 (54.9) | 48.2 | 51.9 | 51.1 | 49.8 | 54.3 | 59.5 | 56.0 | 57.9 |
| Others | 4249 (45.1) | 51.8 | 48.1 | 48.9 | 50.2 | 45.7 | 40.5 | 44.0 | 42.1 |
|
| |||||||||
| Education | |||||||||
| No education | 66 (0.4) | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| <High school | 2329 (19.9) | 24.5 | 18.4 | 21.4 | 21.2 | 21.6 | 17.7 | 16.5 | 19.8 |
| High school | 3448 (35.4) | 32.6 | 38.2 | 34.8 | 35.8 | 35.3 | 35.3 | 34.0 | 35.5 |
| >High school | 4000 (44.3) | 42.4 | 43.1 | 43.4 | 42.6 | 42.5 | 46.8 | 49.3 | 44.2 |
|
| |||||||||
| Smoking | |||||||||
| Current smoker | 846 (9.4) | 9.8 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 9.2 | 10.4 | 9.2 | 8.0 | 10.1 |
| Former smoker | 4769 (48.4) | 49.9 | 48.6 | 50.7 | 48.7 | 49.7 | 46.8 | 46.8 | 48.1 |
| Nonsmoker | 4228 (42.2) | 40.3 | 43.2 | 41.0 | 42.1 | 39.9 | 44.0 | 45.2 | 41.8 |
|
| |||||||||
| Alcohol† | |||||||||
| Current drinker | 4698 (50.8) | 45.6 | 48.5 | 43.4 | 48.4 | 50.3 | 54.4 | 53.3 | 52.8 |
| Nondrinker | 5145 (49.2) | 54.4 | 51.5 | 56.6 | 51.6 | 49.7 | 45.6 | 46.7 | 47.2 |
|
| |||||||||
| Self-reported health† | |||||||||
| E/VG/G | 7076 (74.5) | 54.7 | 72.9 | 55.8 | 67.1 | 71.4 | 85.2 | 74.9 | 81.3 |
| Fair | 2022 (18.6) | 28.6 | 20.7 | 26.8 | 23.7 | 21.3 | 11.9 | 18.1 | 14.8 |
| Bad | 745 (6.9) | 16.7 | 6.4 | 17.4 | 9.2 | 7.3 | 2.8 | 7.0 | 3.9 |
|
| |||||||||
| Number of comorbidities† | |||||||||
| 0 | 661 (7.6) | 2.8 | 5.4 | 2.6 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 11.7 | 4.6 | 10.7 |
| 1-2 | 4730 (49.4) | 36.3 | 47.8 | 35.2 | 44.7 | 48.7 | 56.1 | 51.7 | 53.7 |
| 3-4 | 3753 (36.2) | 46.5 | 38.5 | 47.7 | 40.5 | 39.1 | 29.1 | 38.8 | 31.4 |
| 5 or more | 699 (6.8) | 14.4 | 8.3 | 14.5 | 10.1 | 6.3 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 4.2 |
|
| |||||||||
| ADL limitations† | |||||||||
| None | 7964 (82.4) | 64.2 | 77.5 | 63.8 | 73.6 | 84.0 | 91.5 | 87.0 | 89.1 |
| 1-2 | 1330 (12.6) | 24.1 | 16.4 | 23.9 | 18.8 | 11.4 | 6.6 | 8.6 | 8.3 |
| 3–5 | 549 (5.0) | 11.7 | 6.1 | 12.3 | 7.6 | 4.6 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 2.6 |
|
| |||||||||
| IADL limitations† | |||||||||
| None | 8070 (83.4) | 69.1 | 78.7 | 68.5 | 76.0 | 85.3 | 90.6 | 84.8 | 89.5 |
| 1-2 | 1254 (12.1) | 21.4 | 15.3 | 21.8 | 17.0 | 11.7 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 8.0 |
| 3–5 | 519 (4.5) | 9.5 | 6.0 | 9.7 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 2.5 |
|
| |||||||||
| Mobility limitations† | |||||||||
| None | 4137 (44.3) | 24.7 | 39.5 | 26.1 | 34.6 | 40.8 | 56.8 | 40.7 | 53.2 |
| 1-2 | 3485 (34.6) | 35.2 | 35.8 | 34.0 | 36.0 | 38.2 | 31.7 | 39.9 | 32.8 |
| 3–5 | 2221 (21.1) | 40.1 | 24.7 | 39.9 | 29.4 | 21.0 | 11.5 | 19.4 | 14.0 |
|
| |||||||||
| Self-reported eyesight† | |||||||||
| E/VG/G/fair | 9161 (93.8) | 87.6 | 92.8 | 88.1 | 91.1 | 94.2 | 96.6 | 94.6 | 95.9 |
| Bad/legally blind | 682 (6.2) | 12.4 | 7.2 | 11.9 | 8.9 | 5.8 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 4.1 |
|
| |||||||||
| Incontinence† | |||||||||
| Yes | 2806 (28.6) | 45.3 | 30.0 | 43.1 | 35.3 | 31.2 | 19.4 | 33.4 | 21.6 |
| No | 7037 (71.4) | 54.7 | 70.0 | 56.9 | 64.7 | 68.8 | 80.6 | 66.6 | 78.4 |
Note. Data source: 2010 HRS (RAND HRS data file and 2010 HRS core physical health file).
Results are reported in weighted percentages.
∗Chi-test p value < 0.05; †< 0.0001.
aFallers = participants who reported having a fall at least once in the previous two years.
bSleep problems = participants who have trouble “most of the time” in any of sleep problems: “trouble falling asleep,” “trouble with waking up during the night,” and “trouble with waking up too early and not being able to fall asleep again,” or “rarely or never” on sleep problem: “trouble feeling rested when waking up in the morning.”
cSleep medication use = participants who have reported taking any medications or using other treatments to help sleep.
ADL = activities of daily living; IADL = instrumental activities of daily living; E/VG/G = excellent/very good/good.