Keywords

insomnia, elderly, older adults, geriatric, sleep

Abstract

Insomnia, defined as difficulty initiating and/or maintaining sleep at least 3 nights/week that is accompanied by complaints of sleep-related daytime impairment 1, 2, is the most common sleep disturbance in later life. Although insomnia can occur as an acute disorder (7 days or less), older adults are often afflicted with chronic insomnia (12 months or more3 ). Additionally, insomnia in older individuals is most frequently co-morbid in nature, occurring in the context of age-related medical/psychiatric conditions, increased medication usage, and/or polypharmacy. This chapter will focus on the conceptualization, assessment and treatment of late-life insomnia from a behavioral sleep medicine perspective. Evidence for both behavioral and pharmacological treatment approaches will be presented. However, as will be shown, late-insomnia’s chronic and co-morbid nature make behavioral techniques the preferable treatment approach.

Original Publication Citation

McCrae CS, Dzierzewski JM, Kay D. Treatment of late-life insomnia. Sleep Med Clin. 2009;4(4):593-604. PMCID: PMC3563062.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2009-12-01

Permanent URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3563062/pdf/nihms353433.pdf

Publisher

Sleep Med Clin.

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Psychology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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Psychology Commons

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