LOS ANGELES — The myth that you sleep worse as you get older isn’t true, scientists argued in a study published recenty. While older people may have more sleep disturbances than younger people, those problems are linked to illnesses and health issues and have little to do with aging, researchers said.

The study, published in the journal Sleep, examined sleep quality in more than 150,000 Americans. The survey participants were asked about sleep quality, sleep disturbances and daytime fatigue as well as many questions on race, income, education, mood and their general health.

The research showed that sleep quality tended to improve over one’s lifetime — except for an uptick in sleep problems reported in middle age, especially among women. People age 80 and older scored the highest on sleep quality.