Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:1369-1378
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Sleep disorders in the elderly
MG Moran, TL Thompson 2d and AS Nies
Department of Medicine, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Denver, CO 80206.
In their own practices and in consultation, requests to psychiatrists to
evaluate and treat sleep disorders in the elderly are common. The five
million elders in this country receive 35%-40% of the sedative- hypnotics
prescribed, despite the fact that they represent only 12% of the
population. Since their sleep disturbances are usually secondary to
medical, psychiatric, pharmacologic, or environmental causes, they should
receive a thorough evaluation and differential diagnostic approach. Before
prescribing a sedative-hypnotic, one should consider nonpharmacologic
interventions and education about normal sleep changes due to aging. As a
foundation for the judicious prescribing of sedative- hypnotics, the
pharmacokinetic changes associated with aging are discussed.
