Association between nighttime sleep duration and falls among community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and over: findings from a nationwide population-based study.

Short nighttime sleep duration (<7 hours) was independently associated with significantly increased odds of falling in older adults after full covariate adjustment.

• Adjusted odds ratio for short sleep (<7 h) vs. reference (7-8 h): aOR = 1.546, 95% CI: 1.388-1.724, p < 0.001
• Unadjusted OR for short sleep was OR = 1.755, 95% CI: 1.584-1.944, p < 0.001
• The association remained statistically significant after adjusting for age, gender, education, marital status, physical activity, BMI, alcohol use, regular medication, walking difficulty, visual impairment, depression, chronic disease status, self-rated health, and environmental factors
• Study population included 10,321 community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older (mean age: 72.8 ± 6.4 years; 54.5% female)

Long nighttime sleep duration (>8 hours) showed an elevated fall risk in unadjusted analysis, but this association lost statistical significance after full covariate adjustment.

• Unadjusted OR for long sleep (>8 h) vs. reference (7-8 h): OR = 1.224, 95% CI: 1.036-1.447, p = 0.018
• Fully adjusted aOR for long sleep: aOR = 1.091, 95% CI: 0.918-1.297, p = 0.322
• The attenuation of the long sleep association suggests confounding by health and environmental factors rather than an independent effect of long sleep duration

Among the study population, 20.1% of community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and over reported a fall in the past year.

• Total sample size was 10,321 participants drawn from the Turkey Older Adults Profile Survey conducted in 2023
• Participants were community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older
• Data were collected through structured interviews covering demographics, health characteristics, sleep duration, environmental factors, and fall history
• The study was a nationwide, population-based cross-sectional design

The reference category for sleep duration (7-8 hours per night) was associated with the lowest fall risk compared to both shorter and longer sleep durations.

• Sleep was categorized into three groups: <7 h (short), 7-8 h (reference), and >8 h (long)
• Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate associations
• Multivariable models were progressively adjusted across multiple covariate domains including sociodemographic, behavioral, clinical, and environmental factors