Sleep disorders and activities in long term care facilities--a vicious cycle?

Sleep disorders are symptoms of many diseases. Persons suffering from multiple morbidities are affected most. We investigated the relationship between sleep and activities using assessment data of 2577 German nursing home residents. In total, 37.3 percent were affected by insomnia, 29.6 percent by non-restful sleep. We used SEM to analyze the relationship between sleep disorders and activities. Residents with sleep problems exhibited low levels of activities and social engagement and high levels of communication impairment and interpersonal conflicts. They received less activation than persons without sleep disorders. We found significant evidence that sleep disturbances and lack of activities influence each other negatively.