Sleep Problems in Older Patients Often Not Taken Seriously
Doctors may fail to ask their older patients about sleep difficulties, or it they are mentioned, neglect to enter them in the person’s medical chart. A study involving 1,500 participants aged 60 or older from 11 primary care sites backs up this premise. While 69% mentioned at least one sleep complaint, their concerns in this area were recorded only 19% of the time by their physician.
Independent social workers interviewed study participants (seniors) after their doctors’ visits and learned that the majority had difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or being able to sleep. Doctors may believe sleep difficulties to be a normal part of aging, and patients may neglect to mention the problem at their medical examination.
Several studies have shown that not getting enough sleep can lower a person’s metabolic function, be associated with cardiovascular problems, breast cancer in women and increased sensitivity to pain. Insufficient sleep may also result in depression, or depression can cause sleep difficulties. Which comes first is unknown.
Sleep disorders are easily treated by newer prescription medications or by teaching “sleep hygiene” techniques. Meditation, exercise, and modifying the evening activity before bedtime can also help produce sounder sleep. Treating sleep disorders effectively results in improved health and quality of life.
Excessive daytime sleepiness is often the best predictor of poor physical and mental health. Physicians would do well to ask a patient ,”Do you feel sleepy during the day?”
This question will open the door to pursuing further questioning about a patient’s quality of sleep.
This most recent study from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University is published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
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