Sex-specific changes and age-specific trends in sleep quality and sleep apnea: Analysis of one-million nights of sleep
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Sleep quality and breathing changes with aging. Women report worse subjective sleep-quality while having better objective polysomnographic (PSG) sleep-quality, than men. Electroencephalogram (EEG) slow-wave sleep shows marked reductions with age, but non-EEG based sleep quality is relatively well preserved. The CPC-based SleepImage® System was used to estimate a sleep quality index (SQI), sleep fragmentation and sleep apnea. Included in the analysis are 1-million-nights of clinical home recordings including ≥6-hours of duration and ≥4-hours of estimated total-sleep-time, with good signal-quality (≥80%) from individuals ≥18-years (45.5%-women, average 2-nights). Age groups in years (n=1 million, 45.4% women) were defined as 18-30-years (n=97,192/46.0%-women), 31-40-years (n=170,879/41.6%-women), 41-50-years (n=211,795/42.7%-women), 51-60-years (n=224,795/46.8%-women), 61-70-years (188,798/48.8%-women) and ≥71-years (107,065/47.1%-women). Paralleling known N3 patterns, women have significantly higher SQI in all age-groups. However, sleep-efficiency is significantly lower in women in all age-groups and starts to decline in both sexes ≥71-years of age. The SQI gradually declines in both sexes until ≥61-years and then stabilizes, unlike the EEG based N3. AHI 3% is significantly lower in women in all age-groups. AHI 3% gradually increases with age, most prominently in men from 31-51 years and women after 51-years. AHI 3% has stronger negative correlation with SQI in men, then declines ≥61-years. The sleep quality decline with age in a non-PSG EEG based assessment is less evident than the reported steep decline in N3 sleep. The CPC-SQI is higher in women in all age-groups, but sleep efficiency is lower, which may help explain lower subjective sleep quality in women. • Technological advances in wearable-devices allow use with medical grade algorithms. • Wearable-devices can now measure dynamics of sleep-quality and sleep apnea. • Short (days), intermediate (weeks) and long-range (months) can be measured. • Non-EEG based sleep quality is higher in women than men in all age-groups and declines with age. • Increase in sleep apnea severity is seen earlier in men than women.
Source: Sleep Medicine
Institution: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Language: English
Topic: Sleep and related disorders
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,350
OpenAlex ID: W4417483208