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ObjectiveInterest in sleep disorders among the elderly, especially those in Korea, has increased. We aimed to describe the overall sleep status of the elderly population in Korea using survey data and to determine the risk factors concerning different aspects of sleep status.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey on 271 respondents aged 65–86 years old. We performed multistage clustered random sampling according to the population and socioeconomic distribution of all Korean territories. The survey questionnaire was used to perform a structural assessment of sociodemographic characteristics; medical comorbidities; psychiatric comorbidities; and sleep status, including sleep duration, sleep quality, presence of insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep apnea, and restless legs syndrome.ResultsApproximately 12.5, 22.%, and 51.3% of the elderly population had poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, and insomnia, respectively. Hypertension, dyslipidemia, insomnia, anxiety, and depression predicted poor sleep quality. Female sex, insomnia, and sleep apnea predicted excessive daytime sleepiness. Poor sleep quality and depression predicted insomnia.ConclusionA substantial proportion of the elderly Korean population have sleep problems, including poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, and insomnia. Sleep status is influenced by various factors, including age, sex, and metabolic and psychiatric comorbidities.

Supplemental Material, sj-docx-1-jgp-10.1177_0891988720988918 for Sleep Duration, Sleep Apnea, and Gray Matter Volume by Regina Eun Young Kim, Robert Douglas Abbott, Soriul Kim, Robert Joseph Thomas, Chang-Ho Yun, Hyun Kim, Hans Johnson and Chol Shin in Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology

Sociodemographic characteristics of survey participants, the total Korean population, and cases identified as having TTH and RLS. (DOCX 20 kb)

Sociodemographic characteristics of participants with tension-type headache and non-headache controls. (DOCX 38Â kb)

Disrupted circadian rhythms and reduced sleep duration are associated with several human diseases, particularly obesity and type 2 diabetes, but until recently, little was known about the genetic factors influencing these heritable traits. We performed genome-wide association studies of self-reported chronotype (morning/evening person) and self-reported sleep duration in 128,266 white British individuals from the UK Biobank study. Sixteen variants were associated with chronotype (P, Author Summary Numerous studies have identified links between too little or too much sleep and circadian misalignment with metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, cause-and-effect is not easily determined, because of multiple confounding factors affecting both sleep patterns and disease risk. Using the first release of the UK Biobank study, which combines detailed measurements and questionnaire data with genetic data, we investigate the genetics of two self-report sleep measures, chronotype and average sleep duration, in 128,266 white British individuals. We replicate previous genetic associations and identify seven and two novel genetic variants influencing chronotype and sleep duration, respectively. Associated variants are located near genes implicated in circadian rhythm regulation (RGS16, PER2), near a serotonin receptor gene (HTR6) and another gene (INADL) encoding a protein thought to be important in photosensitive retinal cells, cells known to communicate with the brain’s primary circadian pacemaker. Using the genetic risk factors, we estimate the unconfounded causal associations of BMI and type 2 diabetes on sleep patterns (and vice versa) through Mendelian Randomisation. However, we find no evidence for causal associations in either direction. The full UK Biobank release of 500,000 individuals will boost our power to detect causal associations.