Sleep quality, obesity and the risk of multimorbidity among Australian middle-aged and older adults: Evidence from a national longitudinal household survey

Objective: We aim to examine whether sleep quality and obesity are important risk factors for multimorbidity among middle-aged and older adults in Australia. Methods: We analysed 22,551 person-year observations from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. We used fixed-effects multinomial logistic regression to explore the relationship between sleep quality and obesity with multimorbidity risk. Results: We found that worsening an individual's sleep quality from good to poor was linked to a 1.65-fold increase in their risk of multimorbidity (relative risk ratio: 1.65, 95% confidence interval: 1.33–2.04). Transitioning from a healthy weight to obesity was associated with a 2.28 times higher risk of developing multimorbidity (relative risk ratio: 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.55–3.37). We also found that transitioning from good sleep and healthy weight to poor sleep and obesity resulted in a 3.82-fold increase in their relative risk of multimorbidity (relative risk ratio: 3.82, 95% confidence interval: 2.35–6.19). Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for public health strategies and health promotion programs to tackle these modifiable risk factors. Implications for Public Health: A key priority should be funding evidence-based implementation research to identify the most effective ways to deliver the proven interventions for sleep health and weight management across diverse Australian communities.

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

49

1753-6405

N/A

6

10