Sleep and cardiac diseases amongst elderly people

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the interrelationship between sleep complaints and cardiac symptoms. DESIGN: An epidemiological survey by means of questionnaire. SETTING: Västerbotten and Norrbotten in northern Sweden. SUBJECTS: All 10,216 members of the Swedish Pensioners' Association (SPF). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sleep disturbances and cardiac diseases. RESULTS: Of the men who slept well, 3.0% stated they were troubled by both spasmodic chest pain ('angina pectoris') and a sensation of irregular heart beats ('cardiac arrhythmia'), 9.9% had angina pectoris alone, 7.9% suffered from cardiac arrhythmia, and 79.2% had neither of these disorders. Amongst the men who slept poorly, the corresponding frequencies were 7.0%, 8.7%, 12.3% and 72.0% (P < 0.001). Amongst the women who slept well these frequencies were 2.3%, 7.0%, 8.2% and 82.5%, and among those who slept poorly 5.9%, 10.2%, 15.0% and 68.9% (P < 0.0001). Amongst those with reported sleep complaints, there was an increased occurrence of both angina pectoris and cardiac arrhythmia. This increase in cardiac disease was found in men and women; both in those with trouble falling asleep, those who frequently awoke during the night and those who had difficulty regaining sleep; and also in those with too early final awakening in the morning. Daytime sleepiness was also associated with increased cardiac symptoms. CONCLUSION: Poor sleep was associated with both an increase in angina pectoris and cardiac arrhythmias.

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