Work

Sleep quality, obesity and the risk of multimorbidity among Australian middle-aged and older adults: Evidence from a national longitudinal household survey

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: We aim to examine whether sleep quality and obesity are important risk factors for multimorbidity among middle-aged and older adults in Australia. METHODS: We analysed 22,551 person-year observations from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. We used fixed-effects multinomial logistic regression to explore the relationship between sleep quality and obesity with multimorbidity risk. RESULTS: We found that worsening an individual's sleep quality from good to poor was linked to a 1.65-fold increase in their risk of multimorbidity (relative risk ratio: 1.65, 95% confidence interval: 1.33-2.04). Transitioning from a healthy weight to obesity was associated with a 2.28 times higher risk of developing multimorbidity (relative risk ratio: 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.55-3.37). We also found that transitioning from good sleep and healthy weight to poor sleep and obesity resulted in a 3.82-fold increase in their relative risk of multimorbidity (relative risk ratio: 3.82, 95% confidence interval: 2.35-6.19). CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the need for public health strategies and health promotion programs to tackle these modifiable risk factors. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: A key priority should be funding evidence-based implementation research to identify the most effective ways to deliver the proven interventions for sleep health and weight management across diverse Australian communities.

Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2025.100280