Study Ties Poor Sleep Quality to Increased Suicide Risk Among Older Adults

Poor sleep quality is tied to an increased risk of suicide among older adults, researchers reveal.

The study, led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, involved 14,456 adults - aged 65 years and older. The researchers found that older adults who reported having sleep disturbances were more likely to die by suicide when compared to the well-rested adults.

"This is important because sleep disturbances are highly treatable, yet arguably less stigmatizing than many other suicide risk factors," said Rebecca Bernert, PhD, lead author of the study. Bernert is an instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Suicide Prevention Research Laboratory at Stanford.

According to the researcher, the rate of suicide is higher among older adults as compared to other age groups, due to which suicide prevention is a major public health challenge.

The researchers compared the quality of sleep of 20 adults - who had committed suicide - with the sleep patterns of other 400 similar individuals over a 10-year period.

They noticed that when compared to participants who reported sleeping well, those with poor quality of sleep had 1.4 times greater risk of death by suicide within the 10-year study period.

The study confirmed the relationship between depression and suicide risk, while also assessing poor sleep as an independent risk factor. "Our findings suggest that poor sleep quality may serve as a stand-alone risk factor for late-life suicide," Bernert said.

It was poor sleep quality that well-predicted the risk of suicide than depressive symptoms. The strongest predictor of suicide risk was the combination of poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms.

"Suicide is the outcome of multiple, often interacting biological, psychological and social risk factors," Bernert said. "Disturbed sleep stands apart as a risk factor and warning sign in that it may be undone, which highlights its importance as a screening tool and potential treatment target in suicide prevention. Suicide is preventable. Yet interventions for suicide prevention are alarmingly scarce."

The finding was documented in JAMA Psychiatry.