Sleep deprivation may exacerbate frailty's effects on mental health in older adults

older adults
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Previous studies have linked sleep deprivation and frailty with depression. A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that examined their combined effect suggests that short sleep intensifies the impacts of frailty on depressive symptoms.

Among 5,026 community-dwelling in China, participants who were frail at the start of the study were more likely to later develop depressive symptoms. Also, those who experienced worsening frailty throughout the study tended to develop higher levels of depression. Short sleep exacerbated these effects.

The findings suggest that interventions that target sleep disturbances—such as exercise and mindfulness-based stress reduction—might help alleviate the negative effects of frailty on psychological well-being.

"We hope our research findings raise people's awareness of the combined effect of frailty and sleep on older adults' mental health, and provide implications for interventions to improve sleep quality for prefrail and frail older adults," said co-author Xinyi Zhao, Ph.D., of Peking University, in Beijing.

More information: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2021). DOI: 10.1111/jgs.16999

Provided by Wiley
Citation: Sleep deprivation may exacerbate frailty's effects on mental health in older adults (2021, February 3) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-deprivation-exacerbate-frailty-effects-mental.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Diet quality may affect risk of frailty in older adults

3 shares

Feedback to editors