Insomnia Symptoms Are Associated with Measures of Functional Deterioration and Dementia Status in Adults with Down Syndrome at High Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: While obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and insomnia symptoms in neurotypical populations are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), their association with dementia in adults with Down syndrome (DS) remains less clear, even though these symptoms are prevalent and treatable in DS. Understanding their associations with AD-related dementia status, cognitive impairment, and functional deterioration may lead to interventions to slow decline or disease progression in adults with DS. Objective: To characterize differences in OSA and insomnia symptom expression by dementia status, and to determine which sleep factors support dementia diagnosis. Methods: Multimodal consensus conference was used to determine dementia status in 52 adults with DS (52.2 ± 6.4 years, 21 women). Cognitive impairment, adaptive behavior skills, and symptoms of OSA and insomnia were quantified using validated assessments for adults with DS and their primary informants. Results: A sex by dementia status interaction demonstrated that older women with DS and dementia had more severe terminal insomnia but not OSA symptoms relative to older women with DS who were cognitively stable (CS). Greater insomnia symptom severity was associated with greater functional impairments in social and self-care domains adjusting for age, sex, premorbid intellectual impairment, and dementia status. Conclusions: Insomnia symptoms are more severe in women with DS with dementia than in women with DS and no dementia, and regardless of dementia status or sex, more severe insomnia symptoms are associated with greater impairment in activities of daily living. These findings underscore the potential importance of early insomnia symptom evaluation and treatment in women with DS at risk of developing AD.
Source: Journal of Alzheimer s Disease
DOI: 10.3233/jad-220750
Language: English
Topic: Sleep and related disorders
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: Relationships between local and global mechanisms of sleep apnea, Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, and memory impairment in cognitively asymptomatic older adults, Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, Neurodegeneration in Aging Down Syndrome (NiAD): A Longitudinal Study of Cognition and Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease, The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California, Irvine, Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease in Adults with Down Syndrome, Alzheimer Biomarker Consortium - Down Syndrome (ABC-DS), The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California, Irvine
OpenAlex ID: W4399670094