Anne L. Ersig

Studies examining the associations of chronic stressors with sleep health in older adults have shown conflicting results. While the COVID‐19 pandemic increased perceived stress at the population level, less is known about chronic stressors experienced by older adults in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic and its impact on sleep health in an aging population. This study aims to examine the association of older adults' chronic stress with insomnia symptoms during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic. A cross‐sectional analysis was performed using early‐release COVID‐19 data from the Health and Retirement Study. Data on chronic stressors and insomnia symptoms in older adults ( N = 2021; mean age = 68.8) were examined. Co‐occurrence network analysis, latent class analysis, Rao–Scott χ 2 tests, and multivariable logistic regression were used to characterize the co‐occurrence of chronic stressors and associations with insomnia symptoms. The most common co‐occurring chronic stressors during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic were self‐health issues, family‐health issues, and financial stress. Older adults experiencing frequent stress co‐occurrence had 91% higher odds of difficulty initiating sleep ( p < 0.001), 40% higher odds of frequent nocturnal awakening ( p = 0.028), and 83% higher odds of nonrestorative sleep ( p < 0.001). However, adjustment for health risk factors and COVID‐19 concerns attenuated the effects, leaving strongest association for difficulty initiating sleep (odds ratio = 1.51, p = 0.010). Frequent stress co‐occurrence plays an important role linking chronic stress to insomnia symptoms in an aging population. Ongoing research is needed to examine the lingering effects of frequent stress co‐occurrence on older adults' sleep health in the post COVID‐19 era.

Aims Psychological stress has been linked to lipid dysregulation with noticeable gender differences, but it remains unclear whether women are more susceptible to non-optimal lipid levels than men, when experiencing stressful life events. This study aims to examine the association between stressful life events and non-optimal lipid levels among persons with hyperlipidaemia and whether the association differs between men and women. Methods and results A nested case–control study was performed using data from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort (WSC) Study from 2011 to 2015, including 224 participants with hyperlipidaemia and without a history of myocardial infarction or heart failure. Among them, 63 participants with non-optimal LDL cholesterol or triglyceride levels were identified as cases, and 161 participants with optimal LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were identified as controls. Cases and controls were traced back to their self-reported life events collected through the Retirement and Sleep Trajectories study during 2010–11. The association between stressful life events and non-optimal lipid levels was examined using multivariable logistic regression; confounding effects were addressed using propensity score weighting and Mahalanobis distance matching; gender differences were examined using subgroup analysis. Results showed that a higher number of stressful life events during 2010–11 was associated with greater odds of non-optimal lipid levels during 2011–15 (odds ratio = 1.45, P = 0.03) among women with hyperlipidaemia, whereas the association was not significant among men with hyperlipidaemia (P = 0.910). Conclusion Future studies are needed to examine the underlying mechanisms that explain gender differences in the association between stressful life events and non-optimal lipid levels. Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00005557