Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the second leading cause of death among Korean women, and its incidence is dramatically elevated in middle-aged women. This study aimed to identify the predictors of sleep quality, a CVD risk factor, in middle-aged women with CVD risk factors to provide foundational data for developing intervention strategies for the prevention of CVD. The subjects, 203 middle-aged women (40-65 years old) with one or more CVD risk factors were selected through convenience sampling and included in this descriptive correlational study. The effects of somatic symptoms, depression symptoms, and sedentary time on sleep quality were examined. CVD-related characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas the mean values of the independent variables were analyzed using t-tests and analysis of variance. Predictors of sleep quality were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The results showed that sleep quality increased with decreasing somatic symptoms (β = -0.36, p < 0.001), depression symptom score (β = -0.17, p = 0.023), and daily sedentary time (β = -0.13, p = 0.041), and the regression model was significant (F = 19.80, p < 0.001). Somatic symptoms are the most potent predictors of sleep quality in middle-aged women. Thus, intervention strategies that improve somatic symptoms are crucial for the enhancement of sleep quality, which deteriorates with advancing age.
Keywords: cardiovascular risk factors; depression; middle-aged women; sedentary time; sleep quality; somatization symptoms.