Prevalence and correlates of sleep disturbance among older women in Vietnam

Aims and objectives To explore prevalence and correlates of sleep disturbance among women aged 60 and over in Vietnam. Background Sleep disturbance can negatively influence human's health. Sleep disturbance is likely to increase with age, and women appear to be more likely to experience sleep disturbance than men. Knowledge about sleep disturbance in women aged 60 and over in Vietnam is under‐researched. Design The study presents results from a cross‐sectional survey of 440 women aged 60 and over from 16 rural and urban suburbs in Vietnam from August 2014–January 2015 Methods Structured questionnaires were used to gather data about residence, age, marital status, educational attainment, employment status, income, body mass index, physical activity, exercise, perceived stress, general health status, number of chronic diseases and sleep disturbance. Descriptive analysis, bivariate correlation and binary logistic generalised linear model were used for data analysis. Results Among older women in Vietnam, (i) the prevalence of sleep disturbance was 38.9%; (ii) the most commonly problem was difficulty maintaining sleep, followed by sleep latency, reduced sleep quality, early waking and daytime sleepiness, (iii) body mass index and physical health were significantly associated with sleep disturbance status. Conclusions Sleep disturbance was relatively common among older women in Vietnam. Overweight increased their sleep disturbance while physical health was negatively associated with their sleep disturbance. Relevance to clinical practice This article provided evidence about sleep problems among older women in Vietnam and suggested that interventions targeting weight control and physical health promotion would be useful to improve their sleep problems.