Repercussion of sleep quality and daytime sleepiness on postural steadiness in menopausal women

Introduction Changes on perceived sleep quality are recognized to impact severely on functionality. They have been reported to be increased in women menopause period. This study investigates whether poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in a midlife women sample are associated with postural steadiness. Materials and methods The sample comprises 112 women aged 51–69 characterized for being in the menopause period. Data were obtained from the participants during two laboratory assessment separated by no more than one week. Sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the daytime sleepiness with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Postural steadiness was measured according to different test scores: one leg stance test, Minibest test battery and dual task Timed up & Go Test (TUG) combined with manual and cognitive tasks. The relationship between sleep quality, sleepiness and postural steadiness were assessed by lineal correlations between these variables. Results Global PSQI score was linked significantly with TUG results ( r : 0.488, p 0.001). Sleep disturbances score (0.365, 0.425, p 0.001), sleep duration (0.290, 0.267, p 0.001 ) and sleep efficiency (0.263, 0.327, p 0.001) were linked to lower values in cognitive and manual tasks added to TUG, respectively. Results in Minibest test showed no relationship with global PSQI score (0.269, p =193). Conclusion There is a relationship between poor subjective quality of sleep and postural steadiness disturbances in menopausal women. Sleep quality disorders should be taken into account in this population because they are very prevalent and they play an important role in functionality.