THURSDAY, Nov. 6, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Predictors of insomnia in long-term care facilities in Europe and Israel include age, depression, hypnosedatives, and stressful life events, according to a study published online Oct. 30 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Jacob Gindin, M.D., from the University of Haifa in Israel, and colleagues conducted a cross-cultural investigation of long-term care facilities in eight European countries and Israel. Insomnia and its correlates were assessed among 4,156 elderly residents of 57 long-term care facilities.
The researchers found that the prevalence of insomnia was 24 percent, with significant differences seen between countries. Older versus younger residents reported more insomnia complaints. In all countries, higher rates of insomnia were associated with hypnosedatives and depression, and in most countries higher rates correlated with stressful life events, fatigue, and pain. Activities of daily living, physical activity, and cognitive status were not associated with insomnia. After controlling for variables and country, age, depression, stressful life events, fatigue, pain, and hypnosedatives were independent significant predictors of insomnia.
"Hypnosedatives and depression were strong predictors of insomnia beyond cultural differences," the authors write. "Overall, psychosocial variables were more strongly related to insomnia than functional and mental capacities."
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