Binge drinking may cause insomnia in older adults

Older adults who engaged in binge drinking were at significantly elevated odds of reporting insomnia symptoms, according to new research.

Sarah Canham, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in drug dependence epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues studied the association between binge drinking and insomnia symptoms in 4,790 community-dwelling adults aged 55 years or older who were enrolled in the 2004 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. The cohort reported on the number of days in which they had four or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion in the past 3 months, in addition to reporting on sleep problems, which included the frequency of falling asleep, trouble waking up during the night, waking too early, or not feeling rested in the morning.

Sarah Canham

Results indicated that 26.2% of the study participants had more than zero but less than or equal to 2 binge drinking days per week, whereas approximately 3% had more than 2 binge drinking days during the same period.

Adjusting for demographic variables, pre-existing medical conditions and elevated depressive symptoms, Canham and colleagues found that older adults who binged more than 2 days per week had an 84% greater odds of having insomnia symptoms compared with those who did not binge (OR=1.84; 95% CI, 1.26-2.69). Those who reported occasional binge drinking — more than zero but fewer than 2 days of binging a week — were at an 18% greater risk for insomnia symptoms, although this finding was not statistically significant (OR=1.18; 95% CI, 0.98-1.44). Canham said it was “surprising” that frequent binge drinking, but not occasional binge drinking, was significantly associated with insomnia symptoms.

According to the researchers, alcohol use should be taken into consideration when addressing sleep problems in older patients, especially given the high prevalence of both in this population.

“Clinicians should be aware of and discuss the use of alcohol with their older patients, particularly those who report poor sleep,” Canham said in a press release. “Binge drinking behaviors may be an appropriate target for improving poor sleep.”

Discosure: Canham reports no relevant financial disclosures.

For more information:

Canham SL. #1621413. Presented at: 27th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC; June 1-5, 2013; Baltimore.