Background: Population-based studies of insomnia among older people residing in communities in developing countries are rare. The objectives of this population-based study were to determine the prevalence and factors associated with insomnia among older adults (60 years and over) living in a Brazilian town with 15,000 inhabitants (Bambuí MG).
Methods: All 1742 residents in this age group were selected for a structured interview and blood tests. From these, 1516 (87.0%) participated in the study.
Results: The prevalence of insomnia was 38.9%, being higher among women (45.3%) than among men (28.8%). The use of sleeping pills was reported by 380/1513 (25.1%) of the participants; 186 (49.0%) of these complained of insomnia, suggesting that their treatment should be reassessed. Factors independently associated with insomnia were: female sex (OR=1.78, 95% CI=1.41-2.24), dissatisfaction with free time arrangements (OR=1.88, 95% CI=1.28-2.77), self-rated health as reasonable or bad/very bad (OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.50-2.72 and OR=3.12, 95% CI=2.21-4.39, respectively), history of previous medical diagnosis of some chronic conditions (OR=1.38, 95% CI=1.10-1.73), inability to perform routine activities due to a health problem in the previous 2 weeks (OR=1.54, 95% CI=1.10-2.15), and staying in bed in the previous 2 weeks (OR=1.61, 95% CI=1.04-2.48).
Conclusions: The prevalence of insomnia was high, indicating that this was a public health problem for older adults living in the study community. Our results emphasize the necessity for further investigations about insomnia among older people living in small communities in Brazil and other developing countries.