How Is Sleep Related to Anxiety or Depression in Older Adults With Dementia?

Anxiety and depression are one of the most distressing symptoms for the family caregivers. Little is known about the relationship between sleep impairments and anxiety/depression in this population and how objective and subjective sleep measures differ in relation to anxiety. This study was designed to examine the relationship between sleep impairments and anxiety/depression in people with dementia, using both subjective and objective sleep measures. Among the 170 study participants, 50% (n=85) reported to have anxiety/depression. In univariate logistic regression analyses on anxiety/depression, adjusting for dementia stage, people with more subjective sleep impairment had higher odds of having anxiety/depression (OR=1.111; 95% CI: 1.020-1.211, p=0.016) and people with poorer subjective sleep quality had higher odds of having anxiety/depression (OR=1.702; 95% CI: 1.046-2.769, p=0.032). Objective sleep measures from actigraphy did not show any significant relationships to anxiety/depression. The results suggest that subjective sleep measures are closely related to anxiety/depression in this population.