Alzheimer's & Dementia · Nov 1, 2026

Objective sleep characteristics and longitudinal change in financial and health literacy in older adults

By Du L, Yu L, Wang T et al.

INTRODUCTION: Sleep disturbances are common in older adults and linked to cognitive decline, but their association with functional abilities such as financial and health literacy is less understood. METHODS: Participants without dementia from the Rush Memory and Aging Project ( N = 765) completed annual literacy assessments. Baseline sleep measures included self‐reported nighttime sleep duration, actigraphy‐derived nighttime sleep duration, and actigraphy‐derived daytime napping. Linear mixed‐effects models examined associations with literacy change. RESULTS: Literacy declined by ≈ 1 percentage point per year. Longer nighttime sleep was associated with higher baseline literacy and with slower decline in single‐predictor models, but the decline association was attenuated and no longer statistically significant after adjustment for daytime napping. Greater daytime napping was associated with slower decline but not baseline literacy. Self‐reported sleep was not associated with literacy trajectories, although short sleep (< 6 hours) was linked to lower baseline literacy. DISCUSSION: Objective sleep characteristics were associated with financial and health literacy trajectories in older adults, suggesting that sleep behavior may be related to changes in financial and health decision‐making abilities.

doi.org/10.1002/alz.71948Open accessPubMed 42967585Populations