Perceived Insomnia, Anxiety, and Depression among Older Russian Immigrants

Abstract

There are few data on the relationships of anxiety and depression to insomnia among immigrants in the United States. Observations of high rates of symptoms of these associated conditions among older Russians indicate the need to focus clinical attention on this population. Relationships of self-reported depression and anxiety to insomnia complaints were investigated in a community-based sample of older Russian immigrants. Volunteers (N=307) were urban community-residing Russians (ages 50 to 95 years; 54% women). Surveys were conducted in a semistructured environment by bilingual educators in various community centers. 93% reported a major health problem, 83% experienced pain, and 62% had problems engaging in daily activities. Of the sample, 61% reported an insomnia complaint, and 43% considered depression and/or anxiety to be a major impairment. Logistic regression analysis showed that insomnia was the most important predictor of perceived anxiety and depression; the corresponding multivariate-adjusted odds ratio was 4.37. Insomnia complaints and perceptions of depression and anxiety among older Russians may have a synergistic effect. Both patients and primary-care physicians should be better educated regarding the recognition of barriers limiting access to adequate health care among older Russians.

Sleep Symptoms, Race/Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Position

“…Although immigration status has not been evaluated relative to sleep in this way, previous studies have found that sleep disorder risk factors are differentially distributed across immigrants and non-immigrants. 24,36,37 Mexico-born individuals were assessed separately from those born in other countries because Mexico-born individuals make up the largest group of immigrants 38 and there are different levels of health risks between these groups. 39,40…”

What is needed for allergic children?

“…Inflammation is a cardinal feature of asthma and allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases, and many forms of cancer, but more recently, less tangible associations have been linked to these trends such as an increased incidence of obesity and depression with inflammatory markers . Also autism and Alzheimer disease have been associated with microbial deprivation .…”

Natural immunity

“…These changes seem to occur within 10 years after arrival, but are often most dramatic in recently arrived individuals (Newbold, 2005); this phenomenon is not restricted to young people but occurs also in adults (Kalyoncu & Stålenheim, 1992). This immunomodulation by cultural adaptation—which goes together with changes in disease susceptibility—seems to be a universal phenomenon for various inflammatory diseases, including asthma and allergies (Grüber et al , 2002; Kalyoncu & Stålenheim, 1992), autoimmune diseases (Bodansky et al , 1992), obesity and type 2 diabetes (Creatore et al , 2010), depression (Casimir et al , 2010) and cancer (Pinheiro et al , 2009). The disease spectrum is similar to that associated with altered gut microbiota, as discussed above.…”