ArticleInternational journal of geriatric psychiatry2026
Sleep Problems and Mental Health in Middle-Aged and Older Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults.
Article in International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSleep is a vital biological function, and impaired sleep can lead to a range of problems, including poor health and wellbeing. Poor sleep and higher rates of sleep-related problems and difficulties are often reported by autistic people of all ages, however, these experiences and problems have seldom been studied in diagnosed autistic populations in midlife and old age.
methodsThis study used data from the first wave of the AgeWellAutism cohort, from a sample of 265 autistic and 167 age- and gender-matched non-autistic adults aged 40-93 years (mean = ∼60 years; ∼50% female). Participants completed widely used and standardised measures of sleep quality and mental health symptoms.
resultsThe autistic group reported significantly greater sleep problems than the non-autistic group, with poorer overall sleep across all domains (all p < 0.001), with autistic women reporting greatest difficulties. The largest differences between groups were observed in sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction (χ
conclusionsConsistent with prior autism trait-based research in the general population, middle-aged and older autistic adults report more extensive sleep problems and worse sleep quality than non-autistic adults. Sleep problems were associated with older age and poorer mental health. Though the study is cross-sectional, the findings highlight the need to explore causal links through intervention. Addressing anxiety, and mental health problems more broadly, may improve sleep quality in ageing autistic populations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.