Sleep Problems of Service Users of Elder Care in Hong Kong

Introduction and Aims: The present study aims to explore the sleep quality of service users of elder care in Hong Kong. Methods: A survey of 406 participants aged 60 or over randomly selected from among users of community care (77.3%) and residential care services (22.7%) of the largest NGO in Hong Kong was carried out. Two-third (66.7%) was female; 44.3% from the age group of 70-79. Sleep quality was measured by Cantonese-version Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Cantonese-PSQI) and a global question on self-reported insomnia. Results: A total of 34.7 % of the participants self-reported suffering from insomnia. Among them, 78% had it for more than one year, 51.0% did not seek help, and 16.5% could not find any suitable persons to help. If the Cantonese-PSQI score 5 or above was taken as the cutoff point for sleep problems, 68.81% of the participants would be suffering some sleep problems. This suggests a need to adjust the cut-off score for PSQI among Chinese older people. Sleep quality was predicted by self-reported insomnia, institutionalization, depression and poor perceived health, after controlling for confounding variables. Discussion: Further studies are recommended to find out reasons of low help-seeking, and to cross-validate the cutoff score of Cantonese-PSQI for Chinese elders.