It has been suggested that physical or social activity is associated with fewer sleep disturbances among elderly people. Women report more sleep disturbances than men, which could indicate a variation in activity patterns between the genders. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between sleep disturbances and leisure activities in men and women ( ) aged ≥60 years in a Swedish population. Sleep disturbances were measured using eight dichotomous questions and seventeen variables, covering a wide range of leisure activities. Few leisure activities were found to be associated with sleep disturbances and their importance decreased when the models were adjusted for confounders and gender interactions. After clustering the leisure activities and investigating individual activities, sociointellectual activities were shown to be significant for sleep. However, following adjustment for confounders and gender interactions, home maintenance was the only activity significant for sleep. Being a female increased the effect of home maintenance. Besides those leisure activities, poor/fair self-rated health (OR 7.50, CI: 4.27–11.81) and being female (OR 4.86, CI: 2.75–8.61) were found to have the highest association with poor sleep. Leisure activities pursued by elderly people should focus on activities of a sociointellectual nature, especially among women, to promote sleep. 1. Introduction It is suggested that leisure activities, such as physical and social activities and spending time outdoors, influence the timing of sleep and the robustness of the sleep-wake rhythm [1, 2]. Physical and social activities have also been found to improve sleep quality, efficiency, and duration [3, 4]. However, extremely short/long sleep duration has been associated with higher morbidity among elderly people (≥60 years) [5]. Fewer daytime activities and frequent naps during the day contribute to changes in the sleep-wake rhythm, which might lead to poor sleep quality [6]. This implies that elderly people need stimulating activities during the day if they are to sleep well at night. Sleep changes throughout life. Elderly people usually go to sleep and rise earlier (i.e., phase-advanced sleep) [1], especially elderly women [7]. There is a decrease in sleep efficiency and deep sleep (N3) [6]. The most common sleep disturbances in elderly people are nocturnal awakening, difficulty falling asleep, and early awakening [8]. Some of the changes in sleep can be attributed to normal ageing and others to medical conditions [1]. Most of the insomnia that occurs in old age is
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