Abstract
Natural disasters disproportionately affect older adults. We examined prospectively the associations between disaster exposure and sleep disturbances among elderly survivors over three years of follow-up. Logistic regression models were used to analyze data from a natural experiment where a prospective cohort (aged 65 or older) suffered the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami between baseline (2010) and follow-up (2013) surveys. Of 3,567 panel respondents (74 ± 6 years old, 57% female), 13% reported post-disaster sleep insufficiency (not well-rested upon waking), 41% insomnia symptoms, 11% short sleep duration (< 6 hours/day), 27% poor sleep quality, and 22% sleep medication use. Financial hardship was associated with post-disaster sleep insufficiency, insomnia symptoms, and poor sleep quality, net of baseline covariates. Property damage predicted sleep medication use while disrupted access to healthcare predicted poor sleep quality. In contrast, survivors appeared to have recovered from loss of relatives/friends as it did not predict any sleep disturbances.