Associations Between Sleep Parameters, Noncommunicable Diseases, HIV Status, and Medications in Older, Rural South Africans

Francesc Gomez-Olive , Harvard University
Julia Rohr, Harvard School of Public Health
Laura Roden, University of Cape Town
Dale Rae, University of Cape Town
Malcolm von Schantz, University of Surrey

Sleep is affected by and affects both infectious diseases and NCD. However, sleep is a neglected aspect of health. We investigated sleep habits and their interactions with HIV or NCDs in 5059 individuals 40 plus years from HAALSI in South Africa. We collected socio-demographic data, anthropometric measurements and blood tests. We performed descriptive analysis, measured associations using logistic regression and estimated models for continuous variables using ordered logistic regression. Self-reported sleep duration was 8.2±1.6h. Insufficient sleep was associated with age, education, unemployment, obesity. Restless sleep was associated with age, women, education, unemployment, single. Hypertension was associated with shorter sleep duration, poor sleep quality, restless sleep, sleep apnea. HIV positive individuals not on ART reported more nocturnal awakenings than those on ART (p=0.029) and HIV negative individuals (p=0.024). These data provide a basis for further objective studies of the relationship between sleep and other risk factors in South African populations.

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 Presented in Session 6. Health & Mortality & Aging