The relationship between sleep length and depression level in older adults: The masking effect of education level

Abstract

Depression is a prevalent mental health issue that affects many people around the world, has a serious impact on global public health, and causes significant economic loss and social burden. There is evidence that sleep length is strongly associated with depression levels, and that sleep length is associated with education levels in different populations. This study found that older adults who lacked sleep length were more depressed, while education level acted as a masking effect between sleep length and depression in older adults. Therefore, it is important to focus on the sleep length of older adults to ensure that they get enough sleep for good health. Further consideration should be given to recommending different specific interventions for older adults with different education levels in order to better reduce the risk of depression in older adults.