Recognizing and Diagnosing Insomnia in Seniors This leaves them more susceptible to waking episodes during the night and also affects how refreshed and alert they feel in the morning. Polysomnographic studies have shown elderly people experience a lower percentage of both slow-wave NREM and REM sleep than their younger counterparts. These include two stages of “light” non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, one stage of “heavy” or “slow-wave” NREM sleep, and a final stage of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep before the cycle begins again. A normal sleep cycle is divided into four stages. Our sleep architecture also changes as we age. The body cannot process circadian signals as efficiently, which in turn may cause older people to go to bed and wake up at earlier times. These decreases in sleep quality and duration are tied to the body’s internal timekeeping systems. Some studies suggest that, beginning in middle age, the average person loses 27 minutes of sleep per night for each subsequent decade. Sleep latency – the time it takes to fall asleep – may also increase. People tend to sleep less and are prone to more waking episodes after initially falling asleep. The quality of our sleep often deteriorates as we age. Additionally, certain medications used to alleviate symptoms of geriatric medical conditions can cause sleep disturbances.
Our internal circadian clocks and sleep-wake cycles can also change as we age, and these changes affect how long – and how well – we sleep. Seniors are at higher risk of medical and psychiatric conditions that can lead to insomnia symptoms, as well as other sleep disorders such as sleep-disordered breathing or restless legs syndrome.
People aged 60 and older are more susceptible to insomnia, and this can be attributed to a few different factors. Some people with insomnia experience sleep onset and sleep maintenance issues.Īccording to current estimates, 10-30% of adults live with insomnia. People may have sleep-onset insomnia, which causes difficulty falling asleep, or sleep maintenance insomnia, which causes difficulty staying asleep. People with insomnia also experience excessive daytime sleepiness and other cognitive impairments while they are awake that directly stem from sleep loss. Insomnia is a common sleep disorder characterized by a persistent difficulty to fall or remain asleep despite the opportunity to do so.
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