Binge drinking and insomnia in middle‐aged and older adults: the Health and Retirement Study. (5th May 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Canham, Sarah L.; Kaufmann, Christopher N.; Mauro, Pia M.; Mojtabai, Ramin; Spira, Adam P.
• Is Part Of: International journal of geriatric psychiatry. Volume 30:Number 3(2015:Mar.)
• Page Start: 284
• Page End: 291
• Publication Date: 2014-05-05
• Subjects: Geriatric psychiatry -- Periodicals; Geriatric Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 618.97689
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.4139
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0885-6230

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="gps4139-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p>Alcohol use in later life has been linked to poor sleep. However, the association between binge drinking, which is common among middle‐aged and older adults, and insomnia has not been previously assessed.</p> </sec> <sec id="gps4139-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>We studied participants aged 50 years and older (<italic>n</italic> = 6027) from the 2004 Health and Retirement Study who reported the number of days they had ≥4 drinks on one occasion in the prior 3 months. Participants also reported the frequency of four insomnia symptoms. Logistic regression analyses assessed the association between binge drinking frequency and insomnia.</p> </sec> <sec id="gps4139-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Overall, 32.5% of participants had >0 to ≤2 binge drinking days/week; and 3.6% had >2 binge drinking days/week. After adjusting for demographic variables, medical conditions, body mass index, and elevated depressive symptoms, participants who binged >2 days/week had a 64% greater odds of insomnia than non‐binge drinkers (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09–2.47, <italic>p</italic> = 0.017). Participants reporting >0 to ≤2 binge days/week also had a 35% greater odds of insomnia than non‐binge drinkers (aOR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.15–1.59, <italic>p</italic> = 0.001). When smoking was added to the regression model, these associations fell just below the level of significance.</p> </sec> <sec id="gps4139-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Results suggest that binge drinking is associated with a greater risk of insomnia among adults aged 50 years and older, although this relationship may be driven in part by current smoking behavior. The relatively high prevalence of both binge drinking and sleep complaints among middle‐aged and older populations warrants further investigation into binge drinking as a potential cause of late‐life insomnia. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p> </sec> </abstract>