A multinational study of sleep disorders during female mid-life

Abstract Background Although sleep disturbances are common during female mid-life, few studies have described in detail the prevalence of this problem and related risk factors. Objective To determine the prevalence of sleep disturbances in mid-aged women using validated tools. Assessment of determinants capable of influencing the prevalence of insomnia and poor sleep quality was also performed. Methods A total of 6079 women aged 40–59 of 11 Latin American countries were invited to fill out the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), the Brief Scale of Abnormal Drinking and a general socio-demographic questionnaire. Results Overall, 56.6% of surveyed women suffered of either insomnia, poor sleep quality, or both. Specifically, 43.6% and 46.2% presented insomnia and poor sleep quality in accordance to the AIS and the PSQI respectively. The prevalence of insomnia increased with female age (from 39.7% in those aged 40–44 to 45.2% in those aged 55–59, p p Conclusion Insomnia and poor sleep quality were highly prevalent in this mid-aged female sample in which the influence of age and the menopause was only modest and rather linked to menopausal symptoms already occurring since the premenopause.