# Longitudinal Associations of Midlife Sleep Duration and Quality with Later Life Cognitive and Physical Functioning Decline

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2020 · $622,191

## Abstract

Abstract
Inadequate sleep – either due to insufficient duration or poor quality – has far-reaching
consequences for health and well-being. Cognitive and physical functioning – domains that are
salient for older adults – are especially sensitive to inadequate sleep. There is evidence that
cognition and physical functioning are intertwined; gait, balance, and risk of falls have been
directly linked to executive function, a cognitive domain that is particularly susceptible to
impairment due to processes of aging. The Wisconsin Sleep Cohort (WSC) study is an ongoing
longitudinal investigation of sleep and sleep disorders that has followed a population-based
cohort of adults at approximate 4-year intervals since the late 1980s. Cohort subjects are now
approximately 60-90 years old. We will use new and existing data—spanning up to 30 years—
from a subsample (N~640) of the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort study to investigate the impact of
exposure to unhealthy sleep duration and poor sleep quality throughout midlife as predictors of
accelerated declines in key domains of cognitive and physical functioning in older age. WSC
subjects have been comprehensively characterized on multiple dimensions of objectively- and
subjectively-measured sleep, as well as multiple measurements of cognition from a
comprehensive neurocognitive test battery and a measure of gait and balance. Following an 8-
to 10-year interval since last studied, we propose to reassess this subsample of WSC subjects
to collect additional data on these cognitive and physical functioning outcomes of aging.
Specifically, we will: measure associations of exposure to unhealthy sleep duration (i.e., too
short or too long) and disturbed sleep (e.g., lower sleep efficiency, more frequent arousals,
greater sleep time variability) across midlife with cognitive decline and dementia in older age
(Aim 1); and measure associations of exposure to unhealthy sleep duration and poor sleep
quality across midlife with fall injuries and declines in gait and balance in older age (Aim 2). The
WSC is the only study that has up to 30 years of longitudinal data that comprehensively
characterize sleep, cognition, and physical functioning with repeated measures across midlife
and into older adulthood. The WSC’s rich data set also includes a broad set of other pertinent
variables, collected longitudinally, that can be investigated or controlled for. Sleep habits and
characteristics are potentially modifiable factors that are likely to have a substantial impact on
how adults age, experience quality of life, maintain independence, and contribute to the medical
and caregiving burden in the US.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9928387
- **Project number:** 5R01AG058680-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** ERIKA W HAGEN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $622,191
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9928387

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9928387, Longitudinal Associations of Midlife Sleep Duration and Quality with Later Life Cognitive and Physical Functioning Decline (5R01AG058680-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9928387. Licensed CC0.

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