Subjective sleep quality in noncomplaining elderly subjects: results of a follow-up study

The present study aims at investigating subjective sleep quality and its stability in a sample of not complaining elderly subjects (60 to 85 years). Sleep quality was assessed by means of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). At baseline 91 subjects (46 males and 45 females; age: 66.7+/-5.8 years) completed the PSQI. The follow-up study was performed 16 +/-5 months later (response rate: 82.4 %). In the present sample the PSQI revealed that, in spite of the noncomplaining status, sleep is disturbed (PSQI > 5) in 26.0 % of the male and 34.5 % of the female population. Furthermore, sleep quality does not change systematically over the time course of this study. The mean of intraindividual differences is 0.1+/-2.5. This discrepancy between the subjects' claims of no sleep disturbance and their endorsing of PSQI items indicative of disturbed sleep probably reflects an adaptation in the perception of disturbed sleep.