Experience of Poverty and Problem Sleep in Later Life

Abstract

Older adults are more likely to report problem sleep, but little is known about how the economic challenges of old age affect sleep. Using data from the Disability and Use of Time from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N=1693), this study applied propensity score methods and the marginal structural model to estimate the associations between exposure to poverty and two measures of problem sleep: risky sleep duration and difficulty falling asleep. Poverty, irrespective of duration of exposure, had little impact on short sleep duration. Exposure to poverty, however, was associated with increased likelihood of long sleep duration and having difficulty falling asleep on both weekdays and weekends, especially for older adults who were exposed to poverty for five or more years. Findings suggest that economic hardship of old age may be a social structural obstacle for healthy sleep.