Objective: To examine prevalence and correlates of insomnia symptoms in older Chinese adults (OCAs) during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, insomnia is a major health concern of elderly individuals, but its subtypes have not been investigated.
Methods: Altogether, 590 OCAs (50+ years) were recruited via snowball sampling during the COVID-19 outbreak. Standardized self-report questions were used to assess the presence of difficulty initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS), and early morning awakening (EMA). Classification tree analysis (CTA) was used to identify correlates of insomnia.
Results: The one-month prevalence (95% confidence interval) of any subtype of insomnia symptoms was 23.4% (20.0-26.8%), with DIS, DMS, and EMA being 15.4% (12.5-18.3%), 17.1% (14.1-20.2%), and 11.2% (8.64-13.7%), respectively. Worry about being infected with COVID-19 emerged as the most salient correlate of insomnia (P < .001); compared to participants who were not worried about being infected, those who were worried and very worried were 3.2-fold (24.3% vs 7.5%) and 5.5-fold (24.3% vs 7.5%) more likely to have insomnia, respectively. Among participants in the "very worried" branch, those residing in Wuhan were 1.8-fold more likely to have insomnia than those residing in other places (50.0% vs 27.5%, P = .011). Among participants in the "worried" branch, unemployed persons were 2.0-fold more likely to have insomnia than employed persons (37.0% vs 18.1%, P < .001).
Conclusions: Insomnia symptoms were prevalent among OCAs during the COVID-19 outbreak. Selective intervention programs targeting elderly individuals who are worried about being infected, living in the epicenter of COVID-19, and unemployed might be effective.
Keywords: COVID-19; classification tree; elderly; insomnia; prevalence.