Factors contributing to poor satisfaction with sleep and healthcare seeking behavior in older adults

Objective To identify factors influencing older adults’ poor satisfaction with sleep and their current healthcare seeking behaviors. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center Community Registry. Participants Individuals aged 60 or older enrolled in the registry that completed a cross-sectional mailed survey (N = 1026). Measurements Participant demographics (age, gender, marital status, race, education), overall health (self-rated health, pain, and comorbidities), and health behaviors (physical activity, smoking, drinking behaviors) were collected from the registry database. A mail survey was used to collect self-report on sleep problems and their current healthcare seeking behaviors. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between variables. Results A total of 19.3% of participants reported being “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with their overall sleep quality. Participants who reported poor sleep satisfaction were more likely to be single and report poorer overall health compared to participants who were satisfied with their sleep quality. They were also more likely to report using over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription sleep medications, discuss sleep problems with a healthcare provider, and use strategies to improve their sleep (P < .05). A higher proportion of participants with trouble sleeping throughout the night reported they had discussions with a healthcare provider (47.2%), and used OTC (38.6%) or prescription (20.1%) sleep aids. Conclusions These results underscore the possible linkage between poor satisfaction with sleep and older adults’ current healthcare seeking behaviors and self-treatment methods, particularly using OTC medications to cope with sleep problems without consulting a healthcare provider.