1044 IS PAIN INCONSISTENCY OR AVERAGE PAIN MORE ASSOCIATED WITH SLEEP IN OLDER ADULTS?

Abstract Introduction: Sleep declines in late life. Negative associations between sleep and depression in older adults are well-established. Further complicating daily functioning, pain often coexists with depression and sleep disturbance. While research has shown that higher average levels of pain are associated with poorer sleep, pain can vary significantly from day-to-day. This study addressed how different quantifications of pain (average vs. daily inconsistency) are related to sleep above and beyond known predictors. Methods: Baseline measures from the Active Adult Mentoring Project were used for secondary analyses. Participants included 82 community-dwelling older adults (mean age=63.37, 82.9% female). Depression was assessed using the BDI-II. Pain, measured on a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain), and sleep efficiency, calculated from data gathered using sleep diaries, were both assessed for seven consecutive days. Pain was operationalized as either the seven-day mean or the seven-day individual standard deviation. Results: A three-block hierarchical multiple regression was conducted with sleep efficiency as the dependent variable. In block one, neither age (β=-.04 p=.75) nor gender (β=.09, p=.43) were associated with sleep efficiency. In block two, depression was negatively associated with sleep efficiency (β=-.49, p