Authors
Letícia Coelho Silveira, Roberta de Oliveira Máximo, Mariane Marques Luiz, Sara Souza Lima, Patrícia Silva Tofani, Marina Miranda Borges, Natália Cochar-Soares, Thales Batista Souza, Andrew Steptoe, Cesar de Oliveira, Tiago da Silva Alexandre
Published in
Age and ageing. Volume 55. Issue 7. Jul 02, 2026.
Abstract
A few longitudinal studies investigating the effect of sleep problems on the decline in neuromuscular strength (NMS) have produced conflicting results.
To examine sex differences in how insomnia symptoms (IS) and sleep duration (SD) affect the trajectory of NMS decline.
A longitudinal study with an eight-year follow-up period was conducted involving 6429 participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) aged 50 or older. Participants with grip strength ≥27 kg for men and ≥16 kg for women were included. IS were investigated using a questionnaire adapted from Jenkins. SD was classified as short (≤6 h), ideal (>6 to <9 h), and long (≥9 h). Grip strength was the outcome. Generalised linear mixed models, stratified by sex and adjusted for sociodemographic, behavioural, clinical, and anthropometric variables, were used to estimate rates of NMS decline as a function of IS and SD.
While an increase in IS was linked to a greater NMS decline rate in men (-0.02 kg per year; 95% CI: -0.04 to -0.01), women with SD ≥9 h experienced a higher rate of decline (-0.14 kg per year; 95% CI: -0.26 to -0.03).
Sex differences were observed in the influence of sleep problems on the rate of NMS decline. Insomnia has a greater effect on men, whereas longer SD affects women more.
PMID:
42407094
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Jul 2026.
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