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Study Follows Sleeping Patterns Of Women From Age 38 Onward

Sleep duration decreases in women from age 38 onward, at a rate of 0.4 hours per night. Use of night sedation also increases in this group, with the exception among those in the 50 year old cohort, researchers say.

Investigators began this prospective study in 1968/69 in Göteborg, Sweden, with a population of 445,000. The study continued through follow up in 1974/75,1980/81 and 1992/93.

Professor Cecilia Björkelund and colleagues from Goteborg University, and Nordic School of Public Health, selected a representative group of 1,462 women, born in 1908, 1918, 1922, and 1930. A further 205 women born in 1942 and 1954 were added, as well.

The researchers measured the reported number of sleep hours nightly, sleep problems, use of sedation and sleep satisfaction.

Sleep problems increased with age, as did the number of consultations to resolve these difficulties, and use of night sedation. The frequency increased by 30% between the ages 38 and 84 years. However, investigators were unable to identify any major differences in these parameters during a 24 -year secular trend analysis of 38 to 50 year old women. The one exception identified was a lowering of sleeping pill use in the 50 year old age group during 1992/93.

The investigators also noted that although there had been a significant reduction in the proportion of women aged 38 sleeping longer than eight hours nightly, between 1968/69 and 1980/81, this was not accompanied by a secular deterioration in sleep satisfaction in that age group.
Sleep 2002 Dec15;25(8):894-6. "Women´s Sleep: Longitudinal Changes and Secular Trends in a 24-year Perspective. Results of The Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, Sweden"

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