Date Presented 3/30/2017
Poor sleep quality is associated with decreased social activity satisfaction and increased stress in rural-living, late-middle-aged Latinos. Study results help characterize this understudied minority group at high risk for poor occupational health and outcomes.
Primary Author and Speaker: Stacey Schepens Niemiec
Contributing Authors: Cheryl Vigen, Jeanine Blanchard, Jenny Martinez, Mike Carlson
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Sleep disturbance is associated with a myriad of health problems ranging from cardiovascular disease risk to psychological distress (Fernandez-Mendoza et al., 2012; Sands-Lincoln et al., 2013) and is especially prominent in minority populations of low socioeconomic status (Patel, Grandner, Xie, Branas, & Gooneratne, 2010). Little research has been done to characterize sleep and occupational health in rural-living, minority populations. The purpose of this study is to describe the associations between sleep quality and measures of social participation satisfaction and stress in late-middle-aged Latinos living in a rural community.
DESIGN: Late-middle-aged (age 50–64 yr) Latino adults living in the Antelope Valley of California and patronizing the Antelope Valley Community Clinic were recruited from a patient directory to participate in a pilot study of a lifestyle intervention. The present study includes a cross-sectional observational analysis of baseline data pertaining to sleep, satisfaction with social activity, and stress.
METHOD: Sleep quality over the past month was measured using the 19-item Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. This assessment produces a global sleep quality score comprising sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, use of sleeping medications, and daytime dysfunction. The Satisfaction with Participation in Discretionary Social Activities Scale (short form), contained in the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), was used to measure contentment with participation in social relationships and leisure pursuits. The single item Stress Index was used to assess level of stress using a five-point Likert scale that captures general level of stress “these days.” We performed descriptive statistics to characterize the sample, and Spearman correlation coefficients were applied to assess relationships among the three primary variables.
RESULTS: Forty Latino adults (M age = 57.6 yr, SD = 4.8; 90% female) were included in the analysis. All participants were Spanish speaking, with 10% being English–Spanish bilingual. Sleep quality was strongly correlated with social activity satisfaction (r = –.608, p = .003) and stress (r = –.513, p = .01).
CONCLUSION: Sleep disturbance is associated with decreased satisfaction with social activities and increased stress in late-middle-aged, rural-living Latino adults. Occupational therapy is primed to intervene for sleep problems in underserved populations, particularly by addressing self-management practices related to health and occupation (e.g., sleep hygiene, stress coping; Leland, Marcione, Niemiec, Kelkar, & Fogelberg, 2014). Additional research is needed to understand causal relationships among sleep, social activity satisfaction, and stress in minority populations so as to facilitate development of effective, culturally tailored occupational interventions.
References
Fernandez-Mendoza, J, Vgontzas, A., Bixler, E., Singareddy, R., Shaffer, M. L., Calhoun, S. L., . . . Liao, D. (2012). Clinical and polysomnographic predictors of the natural history of poor sleep in the general population. Sleep, 35, 689–697. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.1832
Leland, N. E., Marcione, N., Niemiec, S. L. S., Kelkar, K., & Fogelberg, D. (2014). What is occupational therapy’s role in addressing sleep problems among older adults? OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 34, 141–149. https://doi.org/10.3928/15394492-20140513-01
Patel, N., Grandner, M., Xie, D., Branas, C., & Gooneratne, N. (2010). “Sleep disparity” in the population: Poor sleep quality is strongly associated with poverty and ethnicity. BMC Public Health, 10, 475. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-10-475
Sands-Lincoln, M., Loucks, E., Lu, B., Carskadon, M. A., Sharkey, K., Stefanick, M. L., . . . Eaton, C. B. (2013). Sleep duration, insomnia, and coronary heart disease among postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative. Journal of Women’s Health, 22, 477–486. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2012.3918
