The study asked whether reported sleep-medication use, once or repeatedly, precedes faster cognitive decline in adults over 50. Data came from 16,323 US Health and Retirement Study adults and 41,453 European SHARE adults. Landmark analyses grouped people by use across two waves (13,915 and 29,214) and three waves (12,310 and 24,692). Mixed-effects models linked baseline use to faster yearly decline in US global cognition (0.0060 SD) and memory (0.0062 SD). European estimates were smaller, at 0.0034 and 0.0037 SD, and both intervals crossed zero. Use was self-reported, and sleep problems, mood and treatment change together, so their effects are hard to separate.
Why it is interesting: Self-reported sleep-medication use has been inconsistently linked to cognitive decline. Here the US link is very small and the European one uncertain, so any effect on cognitive ageing appears slight.
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