ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1580101
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrated Strategies for Lifelong Health: Multidimensional Approaches to Aging and Lifestyle InterventionsView all 14 articles
Association between sleep duration and disability in activities of daily living among Chinese older adults: a nationwide observational study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 2Chongqing Nan'an Disease Prevention and Control Center, Chongqing, China
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Background: This study aims to explore the relationship between sleep duration and Activity of Daily Living (ADL) disability among older adults in China. ADL disability severely impacts the quality of life of older adults and is associated with various physical and mental health issues. With the aging population in China, the burden of ADL disability is increasing.Methods: Data were sourced from the 2018 national follow-up of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), including 9,572 participants aged 65 and above. Sleep duration was assessed via self-reported questionnaire and categorized into short (<7 hours), medium (7-8 hours), and long (≥9 hours). ADL disability was evaluated through Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship between sleep duration and ADL disability, with subgroup analyses conducted to explore differences by gender and physical activity.The study found a significant nonlinear relationship between sleep duration and ADL disability. Compared to older adults with a sleep duration of 7-8 hours, those with over 9 hours of sleep had a significantly higher risk of BADL and IADL disability (OR=1.36, OR=1.35). Subgroup analyses indicated that this relationship existed among older adults of different genders, age, and physical activity levels.For older adults in China, maintaining a sleep duration of 7-8 hours may be an effective strategy for preventing ADL disability. Both excessively long and short sleep duration are associated with an increased risk of ADL disability in this population.
Keywords: sleep duration, Activity of daily living, physical activity, older adults, Observational study
Received: 20 Feb 2025; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cai, Zeng, Chen, Zhong, Quan, Ye and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoxiao Huang, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
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