News from the FDA/CDC

Sleep issues vary by menopausal status

Publish date: September 12, 2017
By
Richard Franki

 

Perimenopausal women aged 40-59 years were less likely than were others in the same age group to average at least 7 hours’ sleep each night in 2015, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Among the perimenopausal women in that age group, 56% said that they slept less than 7 hours, on average, in a 24-hour period, compared with 40.5% of postmenopausal women and 32.5% of those who were premenopausal. Overall, 35.1% of women aged 40-59 did not average at least 7 hours of sleep per night, the NCHS reported in a data brief released Sept. 7.

Sleep measures by menopausal status in women aged 40-59
Measures of sleep quality, however, tell a different story. Postmenopausal women aged 40-59 were most likely to report that they did not wake up feeling rested on 4 or more days in the past week: 55.1%, versus 49.9% of perimenopausal and 47% of premenopausal women. Postmenopausal women also were the most likely to have trouble falling asleep 4 or more nights in the past week and to have trouble staying asleep 4 or more times in the past week, data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey show.

For this analysis, about 74% of the women included were premenopausal (still had a menstrual cycle), 4% were perimenopausal (last menstrual cycle was 1 year before or less), and 22% were postmenopausal (no menstrual cycle for more than 1 year or surgical menopause after removal of their ovaries).

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