Tired? Scientists have discovered another possible benefit of a
night of restful and uninterrupted sleep. According to a new
study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health fragmented or interrupted sleep could predict
future placement in a nursing home or assisted living facility.
The study is featured in the July 2012 issue of the Journal of
the American Geriatrics Society and outlines the association
between objectively measured sleep and subsequent
institutionalization among older women. "Sleep disturbances are
common in older people," said Adam Spira, PhD, lead author of
the study and an assistant professor with the Bloomberg School's
Department of Mental Health. "Our results show that in
community-dwelling older women, more fragmented sleep is
associated with a greater risk of being placed in a nursing home
or in a personal care home. We found that, compared to women
with the least fragmented sleep, those who spent the most time
awake after first falling asleep had about