Mediating Effects of Depression on the Relationship Between Subjective Sleep Quality and Cognitive Function in Healthy Older Adults

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to confirm the relationship between subjective sleep quality, cognitive function, and depression in community-dwelling elderly people, and to verify the mediating effect of depression in the relationship between subjective sleep quality and cognitive function. Method: This study was conducted through secondary data analysis using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging and Dementia (KLOSCAD) carried out in the D region. The subjects of this study were 482 healthy elderly aged 65 years or older. The data were processed using the SPSS 26.0 program and the Process Macro Model 4 was applied to analyze the mediating effects of depression on the subjective sleep quality and cognitive function. Results: The results showed that depression had a significant effect on the relationship between subjective sleep quality and cognitive problems. Conclusion: These findings suggest that sub-jective sleep quality and depression are important factors related to cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults, and that programs to improve subjective sleep quality and reduce levels of depression are needed to improve cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults.