PREVALENCE OF SLEEP PROBLEMS AND PAIN AMONG THE ELDERLY IN SWEDEN

Background/Objectives: Sleep problems and pain are common among the elderly and have been shown to affect quality of life. The objectives were to determine the prevalence of sleep problems and pain among the elderly and to compare the two factors in relation to age and gender. Design: A cross-sectional study based on baseline material collected by the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Blekinge (SNACBlekinge). Setting: The data were gathered from questionnaires distributed between the years 2001 and 2003 in the municipality of Karlskrona, Sweden. Participants: The participants comprised 1402 Swedish men and women aged 60-96. Results: Of all the participants 70 percent met the criteria for sleep problems and 62 percent indicated some experience of pain during the preceding 4 weeks. Both sleep problems and pain were more frequent among women than men and sleep problems tended to be more common with increasing age. Among the participants who experienced pain during the preciding 4 weeks 77 percent suffered from sleep problems. Conclusions: Sleep problems and pain are common among older people. Furthermore it is common to suffer from sleep problems when pain has been experienced during the preciding 4 weeks.