Sleep disturbances and the speed of multimorbidity development in old age: results from a longitudinal population-based study

Background Sleep disturbances are prevalent among older adults and are associated with various individual diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate whether sleep disturbances are associated with the speed of multimorbidity development among older adults. Methods Data were gathered from the Swedish National study of Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), an ongoing population-based study of subjects aged 60+ (N = 3363). The study included a subsample (n = 1189) without multimorbidity at baseline ( Results Moderate–severe sleep disturbances were associated with a higher speed of chronic disease accumulation (ß/year = 0.142, p = 0.008), regardless of potential confounders. Significant positive associations were also found between moderate–severe sleep disturbances and neuropsychiatric (ß/year = 0.041, p = 0.016) and musculoskeletal (ß/year = 0.038, p = 0.025) disease accumulation, but not with cardiovascular diseases. Results remained stable when participants with baseline dementia, cognitive impairment, or depression were excluded. Conclusion The finding that sleep disturbances are associated with faster chronic disease accumulation points towards the importance of early detection and treatment of sleep disturbances as a possible strategy to reduce chronic multimorbidity among older adults.